


Little Star - Yellow Eyes Arc

by SleepyLilacGhost



Series: Little Star [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Multi, REALLY slow, Slow Burn, Tag As I Go, planned until season 6, starts on season 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2019-10-11 04:50:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 56,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17440274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepyLilacGhost/pseuds/SleepyLilacGhost
Summary: Sam wasn't the only one of Yellow Eyes' special children with a sibling that dealt with the supernatural on a daily basis.Problem is she wasn't exactly on their side.





	1. Chapter 1 — First Impressions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for giving this a chance.  
> I've been working on it since forever and the original idea has changed so much over time, from a short ReaderInsert to a full multichapter OriginalFCharacter. It's kind of scary.  
> Hope you enjoy it!

### [After 2.10 Hunted]

Sam woke up with a start. Still half asleep, he looked around as he tried to calm his frantic beating heart that resounded in his ears like drums. Only when his eyes fell on his brother’s figure behind the wheel of his beloved Impala was Sam able to relax. He took a few deep breaths and, passing his hands through his brown hair, he leaned back on the backseat as a soft classic rock song on the radio filled his ears.

“You okay there, Sammy?” Dean asked checking on him with a quick side glance.

“Yeah,” Sam groaned as he tried to make himself comfortable. “Just… another vision.”

“Great.” his brother mumble sarcastically, brow furrowed. “Care to share?”

“It was kind of… erratic.” Sam started speaking, closing his eyes and massaging the bridge of his nose. “There was this… this person, crying and… and begging for their life. Something metallic was spinning around in front of their face. I think… I think it was a knife.”

Dean nodded at the same time that made an affirmative sound so his brother would continue.

“Then the knife stops and, next moment, it’s stabbed in their chest.” Sam sighed loudly. “I… I don’t have any lead to where or when this is going to happen.”

Dean cursed under his breath and told Sam to rest some more before turning the volume up, his way of ending the conversation. Sam sighed and closed his eyes but couldn’t go back to sleep, his mind too awake as it tried to remember the vision more clearly while his ears were assaulted by the loud music. Yeah, not the best conditions to fall asleep again.

With another sigh, Sam turned to look out the window, not paying any attention to anything on the other side of the glass. Vision aside, he wondered what Ash may have found for them.

The boy had called the day before telling them to go to the Roadhouse because he might have a way to locate more special children. After finding out that the “nursery on fire” plus “dead parent” combo was a no good lead, they had practically dropped the search.

Sam thought about his vision again. About the spinning knife in particular and something clicked in his mind then. The first special child they had found, Max, had done something similar with his telekinetic powers. Maybe that was it, another special-children-related vision.

A heavy sigh left his lips. If that was true, it meant another one of them would start wreaking havoc, if they weren’t already. Worst case scenario, they would be under Yellow Eyes’ influence and too far gone to reason with. Best case scenario, he and Dean would find them—even before his vision became true— and warn them about the demon. It was wishful thinking, Sam knew, but it was better than giving up before starting.

“Hey, Sam.” Dean called for him, elbowing his side lightly to get his attention.

A bit annoyed of what seemed to be one of his older brother’s antics when he tried to remember more of his vision for any kind of clue—without much result, to be honest—, Sam took a look at what Dean was signaling just to humor him and be over with it.

The Roadhouse was already on sight, practically before them. Parked in front of it was an 80’s Chevy Van that seemed to have seen better times. Scratches, bumps and quite a bit of dust and dirt from its travels covered it whole. Sam even saw one of its windows cracked and fixed on the go with some duct tape and cardboard.

It took no time for Dean to start huffing disapprovingly and throwing a little rant about proper car care as he got out of the Impala. He checked the van from a distance, like its state was contagious, and kept making fun of the van itself, its rusty appearance, and its owner. Sam simply rolled his eyes and waited patiently until he was finally done.

“What a piece of crap,” was Dean’s final statement, kicking a pebble that hit one of the van’s lids.

“You are _really_ lucky that my sister heard none of that or saw what you just did, pal.”

Both brothers turned to the voice in an instant, hands on their guns. A nervous and surprised exclamation could be heard from the other side of the van. A guy around their age stuck out his head and waved his hands so they could see he wasn’t armed. He was a bit taller than Dean. His dark brown hair was tied in a short and low ponytail from which some strands got loose, framing his fair sand colored face. A pair of dark eyes looked at them warily as he gave them an unsure smile.

After seeing his behavior and deeming him harmless, both brothers relaxed his stand. The boy’s smile widened and a relieved laugh left his lips as he lowered his arms. Slowly. Just in case.

“Little warning but even with your bodyguard over there and those guns you would have suffered my sister’s wrath. I’m serious. She would have ripped your head off with her bare hands for roasting her van like that. Now, if you’ll excuse me—” he went to the front part of the car “—I have a little check up to do.”

“Thought this was your sister’s car,” commented Dean as he went to eavesdrop the motor, surely for more material to critique. “With the whole ‘she’ll rip your head off’ I had guessed she would be in charge of doing the check up.”

“She knows when to delegate,” the stranger threw back with a cheeky smile.

Seeing as his brother was busy chatting about engines and that sort of stuff with what seemed to be his new motor pal, Sam went inside the Roadhouse, shaking his head with an amused smile on his lips.

The bar was empty. Ellen wasn’t there. No customers either, too soon for them, maybe. Sam walked farther in, eyes scanning the place until they fell on the pool table, finally noticing someone taking a nap on it. He had to make a double-take to realize that that person wasn’t Ash, as he had thought at first.

It seemed to be a woman, her back to him, shinny long black hair done in a loose and somewhat messy braid. Her clothes weren’t that different from his: jeans and a red flannel plus combat boots.

While Sam was debating whether waking her up, go see if Ash was in his room or just sit on a stool at the bar and wait for his brother to do so, someone opened the door clapping as loudly as humanly possible.

“Rise and shine, sleepy head!” shouted the boy they had just met outside as he entered the place, followed by Dean. “Sun is bright and birds are singing,” he added, taking a seat on a nearby stool and drumming his hands on the counter.

A loud groan of protest could be heard from the pool table, sounding like a waking beast. But the woman didn’t get up so the boy clapped obnoxiously again, calling for her to hurry up.

Another groan, louder this time, came from her as she turned so she was be face down and crawled to the edge of the table in their direction. She then felt it blindly with one of her dark tanned hands, looking for a way down, like she expected to find some sort of steps she could use to descend to the floor. And so, she kept reaching farther and farther down.

Sam couldn’t stop smiling, amused, as half her body already hanged off the table. He took a side look, confirming that both Dean and the boy found the girl’s behavior funny. The later signaled for him to keep watching and he did as told.

She had kept reaching farther, one of her hands finally on the floor while the other held the table’s border so she wouldn’t fall. A sudden and loud bang made Sam jump on his stool, turning to it’s source only to see the scare had been courtesy of the boy’s hand hitting the counter top.

Seeing as Sam was looking at him, he motioned hastily for Sam to look back at the girl. He did it just in time to see her lose her balance and fall down, almost rolling, only to land on her side with a loud thud and ending lying face down on the floor.

The three of them held their breaths until the silence that had settled was broken by an upset and pitiful whine. Dean and the boy burst out laughing whole heartily, like they had witnessed the best comedy ever. Sam, on the other hand, felt sorry for her and tried his best to contain the mirth, but a little snicker escaped his lips. He made an attempt at covering it by clearing his throat.

“May I present you this astonishing example of elegance and grace that is my dear sister.”

The girl waved two finger as greeting from her position and it seemed like she wasn’t planning on getting up anytime soon. If it was because she was still half-sleep or because of hurt pride and/or body, Sam didn’t know.

A phone rang and Dean had to force himself to stop laughing so he could answer, taking the conversation outside in case he would start laughing again at seeing the girl still on the floor or her brother pulled something funnier at her cost.

“Not to badmouth Ellen’s cleanliness, but you really should get up from there if you don’t wanna catch something, sis.”

A defeated moan could be heard that sounded like acceptance and she got up, rubbing her hip where she had hit the floor as a yawn escaped her mouth. Now that Sam could see her face, he realized she was around their age too.

With her eyes practically closed and her lips on a pout, she walked to where they were, swaying slightly. Even after her fall, she seemed quite asleep. She felt for one of the stools and took a seat besides her brother who had guided her, if one could say that, by saying hot or cold while laughing. Once seated on the stool, she rested her head directly on top of the bar, her arms dangling at her sides.

“How long did I sleep?” she asked, her voice slightly muffled by the counter.

“An hour,” the boy answered with a huge smile.

The girl let out a long and annoyed groan that made Sam snicker. She ignored his slip (or didn’t notice it) and turned her face towards her brother so she could stare daggers at him with her dark brown eyes. She raised her right hand, the one on her brothers side, to her shoulder’s level and signaled with one finger for him to get closer.

The boy turned to Sam like asking for advice on what to do. Sam’s lips twitched up slightly, bemused, and simply shrugged his shoulders as an answer. The boy copied his gesture before obeying his sister and approaching her cautiously but still with a smile on his lips.

He almost fell from his stool when the girl slapped him on the back of his neck. It sounded louder than what it really was, but that didn’t stop the boy from protesting and whining all he wanted, saying that it would leave a bruise for sure.

“We had a deal!” she whined in protest like a little kid, cutting her brother’s complains and marking each word harshly. “We agreed I could nap 20 minutes per headless vampire. You own me an hour more, brother dearest.”

“Six vampires? By yourself?” Sam couldn’t hide his surprise after a quick mental calculation, clearly impressed.

Those seemed too many vampires for someone whose height must’ve been around 5’1” even if he couldn’t distinguish what kind of physic she had. Maybe she was stronger and more resilient than what she seemed at first sight.

“Yes and no,” she answered finally raising her head and resting her arms on the bar. Her cat-like eyes were fixed in front of her, not looking at anything in particular. “Nest of eight: I got six; my brother here, two. He didn’t kill that many—” she shrugged as a yawn escaped her mouth “—but did a hell of a job being the others bait so I could gank them.”

“Team work!” her brother exclaimed, suddenly fired up and raising a hand for her to high-five.

“Team work,” she replied, zero enthusiasm in her voice and giving her brother a weak high-five.

He reacted like she had smashed his hand enthusiastically, nonetheless.

The girl turned on her seat to the person she had answered to find a new face and looked at him up and down and back, assessing him. He was tall, like really tall. Taller than her brother by some, so 6’4” give or take. More than a foot taller than her. It made her give him a kind of squinted look out of envy. She couldn’t help it.

Sam made a confused face at her expression. It reflected in the startled look his hazel eyes were giving her plus his eyebrows raised slightly due to her sudden hostility.

His brown hair and those moles on his face suited him, she thought. They gave him a kind of innocent look and she couldn’t help but exchange her envious glare for a kind smile. That simple gesture made him smile shyly at her flashing his dimples as he tried to tuck away a lock of his hair.

First impression in few words: adorable gigantic puppy.

“Who’s your new friend?” she asked her brother, arm on the counter and leaning her head on her hand to be more comfortable while looking at them, giving the stranger a sweet smile.

The boy was ready to say the name of his new acquaintance when he realized none of them had actually introduced themselves. The girl laughed softly at her brother’s silliness as he turned towards the stranger to finally make introductions.

“Sirius Greenberg,” he introduced himself as he shook his hand.

“Sam.”

“Seren Vaughan,” she saluted with two fingers of the hand that wasn’t holding her head.

Sam made a puzzled expression and opened his mouth to ask about the different family names when they had said to be siblings, closing it quickly when he realized it could be a number of possibilities and maybe none of them a good topic to talk with a stranger.

“I know, I know. Different surnames,” Sirius laughed, reading his expressions. “I have my dad’s last name. She has mom’s maiden’s last name.”

“Cause I’m a bastard,” Seren added, observing both boys reactions with a mischievous smile on her lips.

Sam’s expression was of bemusement, looking between them like he was waiting for the punchline. Sirius merely stared at her with a new level of deadpan expression before letting out a frustrated groan that made her smile grow wider.

“I told you to _stop_ doing that!” Sirius sighed tiredly as he massaged the bridge of his nose, his eyes tightly closed. “Why do you _always_ have to say it? We meet someone that seems nice. We introduce ourselves. We say we are siblings. The different family names thing comes up and you drop the b-bomb. Why do you even have to say it at all?!”

“Why not? It’s funny and it’s true.” Seren shrugged her shoulders enjoying her brother’s reaction. “I was born outside of wedlock ergo I’m a bastard.”

“Okay. For starters…”

“Oh! Also, it annoys you,” Seren added, tapping the tip of his nose. “Annoying you is funny, dear brother.”

“For starters,” Sirius retook swatting her hand away before she could tap his nose again, “both term and concept are outdated. And to finish, it makes people uncomfortable!”

“I believe you skipped the middle of your argument there, but okay,” Seren teased. “Truth be told, I thought about stopping doing it, since you asked oh so kindly last time. But—” Seren stretched the word as much as she could before clicking her tongue as she inspected her nails,”—you misbehaved. You did not only wake me before time but also made me hurt my hip. That’s gonna bruise, you know? You hurt your lovely sister just to get a few laughs out of some strangers you just met. Shame on you, Sirius. Shame. On. You.”

“Okay! Okay. My bad.” Sirius lowered his head, defeated. “I’m sorry.”

Taking her chance, Seren raised her hand towards her brother’s head and stroked his hair carefully as if he was a little kid that needed some comfort. She knew he did. This wasn’t a life for him but there weren’t many other options available at the moment. The senseless bickering also helped to loosen the mood.

A soft laugh—a happy one, not out of mockery—broke the moment, making Sirius raise his head in a blink, the tip of his hears dusted red. He cleared his throat loudly and looked everywhere but to his sister and the guy they had just met. But Seren did look at Sam, finding his hazel eyes staring at her with a warm emotion she couldn’t place. For a moment it almost seemed like he wanted a pat on the head too.

Adorable gigantic puppy.

She couldn’t stop herself from giggling at the apparent accuracy of her first impression. Sam gave her a questioning look along with a smile, asking to be let in on the joke. She pressed her lips together, a smile still adorning them, and shook her head negative. Like she could tell him that without making a fool of herself.

The sound of the door opening got her attention, turning to it expecting to see Ellen back from her errands. Turned out it wasn’t her but a well built guy, a foot taller than her if she wasn’t wrong, much to her annoyance. His short dirty blond hair was kept in what she considered a relaxed take on the military cut.

Her whole body tensed against her will when she recognized him, every sense suddenly on high alert. She cursed internally her own reaction and her horrible bad luck.

It was Dean—freaking—Winchester.

She stole a quick glance at who now she knew was Sam Winchester. Why hadn’t she saw the resemblance before? She could blame her lack of sleep, but knew better than to do that.

Dean hadn’t seen her yet. Maybe she could get away before he did? No, she couldn’t warn Sirius without getting the others’ attention in the process and leaving him behind wasn’t an option to be considered.

So she waited, almost holding her breath, her eyes following Dean’s every move. She was doing as best she could to keep calm, a soft smile plastered on her face. Pretend until you make it, they say.

_Never let your fear show, princess. Someone could use it against you._

“That was Bobby,” Dean started saying as he came closer to them, fiddling with his phone. “Says someone already took care of our case so we can take our sweet time here. But another one came up right after his call. So we should hit the road ASAP. Have you talked with Ash?”

“Nah, sorry. We distracted him with some introductions which, by the way, you missed.” Sirius went to greet the older Winchester. “We’ll have to make an encore just for you. Feel flattered.”

That made the older Winchester laugh and look around. When his absurdly astonishing green eyes finally fell on her, his smile fell too. She could see his body stiffen like hers had done, his hand went discreetly to hover over his gun. The corners of her mouth twitched upwards for a second at his reaction, satisfied. Seren didn’t know if it was a good thing or a bad one for both of them to be so nervous around the other, but she sure as hell was glad it wasn’t just her.

“So, I’m Sirius.” The tension could be cut with a knife but he was completely oblivious somehow.

“What are you doing here?” Dean cut in, practically snarling at Seren as his eyes were fixed on hers.

Sirius reacted like he had been splashed with cold water on the face at being ignored in that way, his brows furrowing at the tone Dean had used. He looked around for an explanation to the sudden harsh behavior finding his sister and the stranger’s stare down as an answer. Neither of them had any intention of losing sight of the other, that was for sure. Meanwhile, Sam and Sirius exchanged a confused look between staring at the other two.

“Polite as ever, I see,” Seren scoffed and motioned to Dean with a flourish of her hand as she sat as tall as she could. “May I present you none other than the great Dean Winchester, dear brother.”

“You… know each other?” Sam asked, looking between them, still trying to understand what was going on.

“Oh, boy!” Sirius exclaimed under his breath, eyes widening. “ _That_ Dean Winchester?”

“The one and only,” his sister confirmed, chin high and crossing her arms.

“Cut the crap and answer the question, Seren.”

“I’m under no obligation of doing so, pretty boy.” She smirked with a defiant look.

“What happened between them?” Sam asked Sirius, seeing as their respective siblings insisted on having their quarrel while leaving them aside.

“Oh, nothing really,” Sirius dismissed with fake nonchalance. “He just menaced to kill her once or twice if he ever saw her again. No big deal.”

“She’s a _witch_ , Sam,” Dean elaborated, rolling his eyes at the bewildered look Sam gave him.

Now Sam turned alarmed at her and got up from his stool to put some space between them, looking at her with caution.

“Didn’t we settle that particular topic already?” Seren protested with an indignant and bored expression.

“She is a good witch,” Sirius intervened, completely serious now, centering his efforts in convincing Sam. Seren had told him enough about Dean to know that he wouldn’t change his mind even if she performed a miracle right there and then. “Yes, she does some spells. Yes, she makes charms and hexes.”

“And damn good at it that I am.” Seren bragged proudly with a smirk. “Dean could testify about that, right?”

“But she doesn’t hurt people: she _helps_ them,” Sirius cut before Dean could answer her. “She saves them.”

“Until she turns Dark Side like all the witches do.”

Seren leaped from her stool and Dean took out his gun in a swift move, its barrel pointing to her heart. The girl stopped in her spot and raised her hands slowly, standing as tall as she could. Sam called for his brother, outraged, as he stopped Sirius from going between them.

“This is a warning, _witch_.” Dean spat after a moment that seemed eternal as he lowered the gun.

Seren snorted at him as she lowered her arms and opened her mouth to tell him a few truths but thought better of it, gritting her teeth so the words wouldn’t escape. She was in no position to go smart on the older Winchester and convinced herself to just take a deep breath and exhale it slowly, her eyes fixed on his all the time, giving him a hard and serious stare.

“Like hunters are that high and mighty,” she growled. So much for letting it pass, even if she still bit her tongue on the matter. “I’ll wait outside. Tell Ash to hurry up, will you?” she added, directed at her brother.

She pushed Dean out of her way to the exit with her shoulder and slammed the door shut when she went outside.

“That wasn’t cool, dude,” Sirius reproached Dean, scowling at him as he crossed his arms in disapproval.

“What happened? Did I miss something?” Ash emerged from his room carrying his Frankenstein laptop. “Where’s Seren?”

“Mister Righteous here called her evil-witch-in-the-making, pointed a gun at her and drove her out,” Sirius snitched.

“Not cool.” Ash sighed, shaking his head before turning to Dean. “Not very smart either. Wouldn’t want to be in the top of her list if she ever _does_ go evil. If she is good at what she does now, imagine when she skips her moral check.”

Dean tried to say something back to defend himself, but nothing came out as he realized that that was a good point to take into account. Both Sam and Sirius laughed at his dumbfound expression.

Ash handed Sirius a key drive asking him to tell Seren that it had everything he could find about her request. The boy thanked him and put it in the chest pocket of his jacket, said his goodbyes and went to meet his sister outside.

As soon as he opened the door, the roar of an engine coming to life could be heard along with some shouted conversation the ones inside couldn’t pick on. A door screeched open and closed loudly, silencing the voices inside the van. It wasn’t until the crunch of gravel under the tires disappeared in the distance that Dean asked about the special children.

“This is what I’ve got,” Ash put the laptop on the counter and showed them a list of dates, locations and names. “You already told me that the nursery fire plus death parents was a bad lead, turning all this search in a goose chase.”

“You told us you had something.” Dean reminded him sounding annoyed. He was, but not with Ash.

“And something I have, my friend,” Ash confirmed, getting himself a beer. “That is a new improved search. Still has the burned nursery and dead parent condition, but aren’t exclusive this time. I added a new filter to try and get something useful: unusual behavior or major changes starting two years ago. More or less. Had to step up my game a lil’bit for it to work, but I think it was worth it.”

“These are a lot of names, Ash.” Dean commented, taking a look at the list over Sam’s shoulder before going for a beer himself. He would need it.

“Yeah, I know. Still a goose chase,” he corroborated before taking a gulp of his beer. “But I think I saw something in there. Forgot to mark it though. Too tired. Fell asleep on the laptop in fact.” Ash took another sip of beer before scratching his nape. “Now I can’t remember what it was.”

“I think I found it.” said Sam as he turned the laptop to show them.

Dean and Ash took a swig before approaching the screen so they could read what Sam had marked. The photo of a smiling young man was looking back at them with dark brown eyes; shoulder length brown hair framing a sand toned face. 

> _Nursery fire.  
>  No victims.  
>  Sudden leave from Standford on November 2005. Whereabouts unknown since._
> 
> _Greenberg, Sirius._

“Son of a bitch!”


	2. Chapter 2 — Leave a Message

Seeing the fine mess they had at hand, Sam proposed to contact Seren so they could meet and discuss the whole situation with Sirius and see if he really was one of Yellow Eyes’ special children. Sam didn’t even finish his suggestion and Dean was already deeming it a bad idea, bringing back the “she is a witch” argument.

“Hey, boys!” Ellen greeted them when she opened the door, carrying a pair of heavy-looking paper bags.

Both Winchesters greeted her back and Sam tried to take the bags from her, but she swatted him away. He laughed as he raised his hands in surrender.

“Seren’s van isn’t outside. Did she have an emergency or something? I told her I was gonna buy her some candies. She never says ‘no’ to candies.” Ellen asked looking at Ash.

“Dean drove her out.” the young man answered while typing on his computer without taking his eyes from it.

“What did you do?” Ellen demanded, crossing her arms with a sigh.

“Called her evil witch and pointed his gun at her.”

“Dude!” Dean shouted at Ash who just had thrown him under the bus.

Ellen looked at him aghast, mouth open and all, before giving the young man a nasty look. The woman raised a single finger and was about to say something to him but no words left her lips. She pursed her lips in a tight line and shook her hand with the raised finger as she tried to find words to express her disappointment.

“Oh, come on!” Dean protested, “She is a witch! We are hunters! _This_ is a hunter’s bar! What was she even doing here?”

“She hunts too and she gives a hand whenever she can,” Ellen answered giving Dean a defiant look, daring him to say something else against the young woman.

He had nothing, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of the water. He turned to Sam, searching for some form of support but finding none. The younger Winchester simply looked away and cleared his throat before turning to Ellen.

“We need to talk to her. The sooner, the better,” Sam said, “Is there any way to contact her?”

“Yeah, I have some of her numbers.” Ellen turned to Dean, “Are you gonna point a gun at her again?”

“Depends on her behavior.” Dean mumbled as an answer.

“Just talk.” Sam hastily assured her louder than needed to hide Dean’s words, “Promise,” he added with a smile after clearing his throat.

Ellen held his puppy look for less than a minute before going behind the bar to get paper and pen. She started scribbling number after number, telling him that those where Seren’s latest ones that she knew of.

“Maybe she doesn’t even have these anymore. Didn’t have time to give me her new batch because _someone—_ ” Ellen raised her voice, looking pointedly at Dean before turning back to the piece of paper,”—kicked her out of _my_ bar.”

“New batch?” Sam asked her, just ignoring Dean’s annoyed grumbles in protest.

“She changes her numbers more often than most because.” Ellen answered, shrugging her shoulders like she didn’t know why. Her expression betrayed her with a shadow of a grimace, though.

“Are we done? We have a hunt with our names on it.” Dean protested from the door, anxious for getting moving and away from Ellen’s dagger stare.

“Take my word on this: that kid is with the good ones,” Ellen said as she handed Seren’s numbers to Sam. Turning to Dean, she added, “Give her a vote of confidence.”

 

* * *

 

Luck wasn’t on their side with those numbers.

Ellen had given them a list of thirteen. Of those thirteen, seven didn’t exist anymore, three were answered by people that didn’t seem to know Seren and assured them they had the wrong number, while the three left over numbers alternated between being off or out of reach, busy line, or it went unanswered.

They couldn’t even leave her a message because she had deactivated the voicemails, leaving just an annoying beeping noise after each recorded message of the call situation. Dean swore that, if he had to heard those goddamned beeps once more, he would stomp his phone while screaming. Sam wondered why his brother even had tried to call Seren so much when, A, he didn’t want to talk to her; and, B, it was clear it was Sam’s task to locate her and her brother since the beginning, not Dean’s.

Ellen seemed puzzled when Sam had told her his problems locating the young woman after a week of trying. Her bemusement doubled when she also couldn’t reach Seren when she tried right after Sam’s call, sounding a bit worried as she assured him that, if Seren appeared at the Roadhouse, and after some scolding, she would make the girl call them and wait for them there. Even joked about having to stock a bunch of sweets, chocolates and candies so Seren would do so more willingly.

After another week without hearing anything about Seren’s whereabouts, Dean had told Sam to just leave it be, that maybe it was a ‘witchy’ thing of hers to be untraceable and that, with any luck, Seren and Sirius would go nuts and kill each other sooner or later.

“Less trouble for us, right?” he had joked with a huge smile, to which Sam gave him a reproaching look, “Too much?”

“Yeah. Too much.” Sam deadpanned as he tried calling once more that day.

 

* * *

 

Sam and Dean entered a bar, tired but happy after a job well done. It had been an easy salt and burn in the outskirts of town. Ghost farmer killing his neighbor’s animals and scaring everyone around before going for the neighbor herself. Easy in, easy out. Well, as long as you left the research part aside, were nothing seemed to make sense for most of it.

Now, both Winchesters wanted to have a beer and relax. They went to the counter, Sam taking a seat and ordering a pair of beers while Dean scanned the place searching for the lucky girl he would flirt with. It was a slow night in the dim-lit bar so there wasn’t much to choose, it seemed.

The bartender served their beers and Sam was about to take his first swig when Dean elbowed him on the ribs. Wrong place, just right were a bruise was forming after the ghost had thrown him down some stairs. Sam tried to hold a pained groan, but Dean noticed and was quick to apologize as he took a sip of his beer.

“Take a look at that.” Dean signaled with a smirk, stretching each word, “I call dibs.”

Sam followed his brother stare to the pool table to find the woman that had his brother’s attention. Well, more like her jean clad ass had it as she was bent over, preparing her shot. Sam’s eyes traveled from her rear down her legs on automatic, stopping on her footwear with arched eyebrows. It was a good mix between high heels and combat boots.

The loud crack of her cue stick hitting the white ball made Sam look back up from her feet. She was now standing straight, watching her move develop as she applied some chalk for her next shot. Her long black hair cascaded in soft waves down her back. It was parted to one side keeping her features hidden from them. Her outfit was more practical than provocative even if it accentuated her forms well. A deep red leather jacket, fingerless leather gloves and the dark fitted jeans.

Dean whistled before turning to Sam with a stupid smirk and wiggling his eyebrows, getting up and ready to go to her.

Another loud crack came from the woman’s direction. Dean stopped, took a step back and sat back down, saying that he would wait for when she didn’t had a cue to use against him. Just in case. Sam laughed and took a gulp of beer as he followed the pool game.

It seemed her turn was over this time as a burly man, cue in hand, approached the pool table after taking a drink of his beer. He gave her a crooked smile, eyeing her body blatantly. She simply took a step back to leave him space to play, apparently ignoring him.

He made his shot. Easy one. Shifted some balls and was lucky enough to get one of his down one of the holes. The dude’s smirk widened as he hovered around the woman, his eyes predatory as he leaned a bit closer to her to whisper something that made her tense up. Without taking his eyes from her, he added a few bills to the corner where the wages rested.

Her head turned to the wad of money, slightly tilted as in thought. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and took out her wallet to add the same amount to the stack.

The man laughed and took a big gulp of his beer before going to make his shot. He messed up, putting in not only a solid ball but a striped one as well.

His annoyance showed on a twisted expression before turning it in a patronizing smile. He turned to her, took a step back and bowed to the woman while motioning to the table, like he was _allowing_ her that turn.

“Asshole.” Dean muttered in his bottle.

The woman didn’t seem offended nor moved from her place. Her attention was on the table, calculating maybe, as her left foot seemed to tap at a rhythm with its heel. Then, it stopped still.

Wallet still in hand, she took what looked to be 100 dollars out. She showed the money to her adversary and added it to the others as she said something to him.

“Oh, she’s so done with him,” Sam laughed. “Do you think he’ll go for it?”

The man scoffed, eyeing her up and down again as he licked his lips, pondering his options. His mouth formed a crooked smile as he leveled the bet, before adding another 100 dollars with a laugh, goading her.

“Pick him clean, sugar.” Dean cheered her, definitely amused.

The woman added her part and ordered the stack so no bill stuck out. Once the money was all set, she took position with her cue and shot without apparent consideration.

Sam snorted, almost choking on his drink when the man’s jaw fell open, stupefied by the move she had pulled off. The three remaining stripped balls had gone down. Only the black ball separated her from her victory and the white ball stopped in the perfect place for a clean shot.

She practically didn’t have to move from where she was to shoot, but did it anyway, making sure to give her hips an extra sassy sway the few steps she took. The brothers couldn’t see her face, but they were sure she shot without even looking at the balls, stare fixed on her opponent, and with a smirk on her lips to boost. At least that’s what they would have done in her place.

The man’s expression went from the initial shock to annoyed to furious as he watched the woman leave the cue on the table before going to get the money. He stopped her from doing so, grabbing her harshly by the wrist and raising her arm high, as to mark their size difference, before snarling right on her face. The woman must have given him a comeback for he raised his other hand, now a fist, ready to strike her.

Sam and Dean made to go stop the man, but before they could move to intervene, he was laying sprawled on the floor with a bloody and, most probably, broken nose after the woman send him there with a high kick in a blur of movement.

She then went to get her discarded cue with leisurely steps. Once in her hands, she tapped its base on the floor as she walked back to where the man was. She tucked her hair behind her ear and away from her face, where a pair of cat-like eyes looked down at him with disdain.

Sam couldn’t help but laugh nervously, amazed, as he watched none other than Seren stare down the man on the floor. Dean, on the other hand, cursed to himself as he gulped avidly what remained of his beer without taking his eyes from the scene with a frown.

They saw the man sit up and make an attempt at getting up from the floor, but Seren stopped him with a hit to the stomach with the cue. Not too hard. He groaned and went to protest, but a harsh hit stopped him in place. Seren had struck the cue base on the floor between his parted legs, quite close to the man’s crotch. His face paled in a second and he went completely still.

Seren bowed so her face was more at level with the man’s but maintaining a higher stance and a certain distance. She was telling him something as she swayed the stick, sometimes closer, sometimes farther from his private parts. When she finished talking, she hit the floor with the cue again. Harder.

That seemed to be the man’s signal to make himself scarce right after taking his wallet out and leaving it behind on the floor. He darted in a hurry to the exit, grumbling curses in the lowest voice he could make and checking over his shoulder to see if Seren had heard him or was chasing him out. Seren didn’t move from where she stood but her stare followed his movements without blinking.

Once the man was gone, some of the patrons cheered for her discreetly —the bartender even clapped— before going back to their business. Seren finally closed her eyes, inhaling deeply and exhaling before opening them again.

She put the cues on their place before picking up the wallet and the money still on the corner of the pool table. She counted her wages on her way to the bar, taking a seat quite close to where they were. Seren didn’t see them though and started dividing the stack in two. Once it was done, she stuffed one in her wallet and the other in the man’s wallet, leaving it on the bar without much care. She brushed her hair with her fingers to untangle some knots and just sat there with a vacant look.

Both brothers took this chance to study her. Her head was slightly down as her arms rested on the counter. A long tired sigh left her lips. She looked exhausted, purplish shadows under her dark brown eyes. They shined with a gleam of sadness mixed with something Sam couldn’t place. Dean didn’t catch that but did notice the reddish gloss on her lips and the black eyeliner that made her eyes look even sharper.

Seren was so absorbed in her thoughts that she missed the bartender asking for her order. She only realized she was being talked to when the woman behind the bar added that her order would be on the house.

The bartender —Kelly, as Dean had gathered in his attempt to flirt with her when they got there— giggled at Seren’s surprised and confused expression before repeating her question and offer with a kind smile.

Seren tilted her head to a side as she thought and made her order of a soft-drink but leaving the flavor to Kelly’s choice.

“To match with your lips,” Kelly said with a wink as she put a cherry soda in front of her.

Seren thanked her as she went to attend some customers on the other side of the bar, an attempt of a smile on Seren’s lips that didn’t reach her eyes at all. She sighed again before taking her drink for a small sip.

“Need something else, boys?” Kelly startled the brothers. She had practically appeared in front of them out of thin air, a warning in her eyes. It seemed they had been staring at Seren way too long for comfort.

Unaffected by the hostility, Dean asked for another beer and gave her a charming smile. It didn’t do the trick to soften her, her stance still tense when she turned to Sam. The younger Winchester said he wanted a tonic with an apologetic smile and a soft ‘please’ at the end. _That_ did the trick and Kelly got their order a tad more relaxed but not before giving Dean a suspicious look.

When they turned back to Seren, she had her eyes fixed on them. Full alert. She looked them up and down and back up, seizing them in an attempt to know their intentions without asking. All her previous fatigue and tiredness had vanished, like what they had saw before was some sort of mirage. An illusion. Even the purple rings under her eyes looked lighter. Her expression wasn’t what one would qualify as friendly by far.

“So,” she started, piercing Dean with a glare, “here to finally put me down, pretty boy?”

“I wish.”

“We just wanted to talk,” Sam intervened before the situation escalated, giving a harsh look at Dean for being difficult, “It’s about Sirius.”

Her body tensed and she sat even straighter. “What about him?” she asked, defensive. Her eyes widened slightly in realization. Her voice went deep and harsh as her eyebrows pulled together, “I swear if you have done something…”

A ringtone went off and Seren pulled her mobile out of her pocket in the blink of an eye and answering without looking at the screen, too busy not losing sight of them.

Her shoulders dropped slightly after hearing the person on the other side of the line talk, suddenly more relaxed. She listened, gave affirmative sounds and, not without giving the Winchesters a wary look, said she would call back later.

“Oh, look. She answered her phone,” Dean said full of sarcasm, taking a drink of his new beer, “What a surprise.”

Seren gave him a confused look, opened her mouth to ask, but thought better of it and closed it again before turning to Sam. “What about Sirius?” she asked again. Softer this time, but still wary.

“You would know already if you picked your phone from time to time,” Dean grumbled before Sam could say anything.

Seren held Dean’s stare with a slightly confused expression. One could say she was prompting him to elaborate, but Dean ignored her look and simply held her gaze.

“You seem reasonable,” Seren said, finally breaking eye contact with Dean to talk to Sam, “What’s going on and why is your brother flipping out about my phone or something?”

Dean huffed and took a gulp of his beer. Sam gave her an uncertain smile before telling her how they had found some information that related Sirius to one of their cases and needed to ask him a few questions about it, how they had asked Ellen for a way to contact them so they could meet and have a _civil conversation_ —Sam gave a pointed look at Dean in that part—and how all their attempts had failed.

Seren looked baffled and asked for the phone numbers Ellen had given to them. Sam handed the battered list. It had been folded and unfolded so many times the paper was starting to tear. Her eyes read the three phone numbers that weren’t crossed, her eyebrows slowly knitting together in thought.

“Around the time you first tried this numbers, did you have any ‘mysterious’ missed calls?” Seren asked looking at Sam to size his reaction. Recognition was clear on his face, “And you have a customized voicemail, not just a random recording.”

Sam nodded. Seren frowned.

“Thought so,” she clicked her tongue, annoyed.

Sam looked at her expecting some sort of explanation or alternative number or _something_ but the girl simply sat there, eyes trained on his feet but not actually looking at them. For the way she was biting on her lower lip and the movement of her eyes, she was musing over something serious.

“Just to be crystal clear,” Seren finally said, her eyes raising to meet Sam’s, “you guys just want to talk.”

“Yeah, just talk,” Sam assured her with a friendly smile.

“It must be something big if pretty boy over there is ready to be this close to a witch without shooting them in the heart,” Seren commented offhandedly before drinking her soda.

“I’m just as surprised as your are, princess,” Dean said taking a sip of his drink. She choked on hers.

“Don’t call me that.” Seren grimaced in disgust at the older Winchester before turning again to the younger one, “So, each pair of siblings goes their way after the Q&A is done. No funny business of any kind.”

“Paranoid,” Dean scoffed.

“I think you mean ‘cautious’, pretty boy,” she corrected him with a mocking tone and a smile on her lips. Her expression became solemn when she added, “In our line of work it’s a must, you know?”

“ _Our_ line of work,” Dean said as he signaled to Sam and himself. His gesture was rather overacted.

Seren rolled her eyes at that remark and attitude, deciding to take a drink to shut herself up just to don’t make it worse.

“Dean,” Sam admonished. These two were giving him a headache.

“Okay, fine,” Seren accepted, lifting her arms in surrender before putting them down again,” I’ll call Sirius and tell him to come.”

“Great!” Sam was about to give some options when Seren raised a single finger in front of his face to stop him.

“But,” Seren downed what was left of her drink, “I have some business to finish before we can have our little _rendez-vous._ ”

The young woman got up from the stool with an _alehop_ and a little jump. She straightened her clothes a bit before her hands went to the back of her neck and unclasped a thin silver chain she had been wearing around her neck.

“Here,” she said, putting the pendant in Sam’s hand.

“What’s this?” he asked taking a closer look at the ring on the chain.

It was one of those round seal rings but it was blank where the seal should be. Sam found it weird considering the rest of it had vine like engravings forming knots. Looked like old silver and Sam would bet it wasn’t just plated with it.

“Is it cursed? It better not be cursed,” Dean growled, leaning forward so his face was closer to hers. A menacing look on his eyes. “For your own good.”

“Yeah, because it’s fun and dandy to go around with a cursed object dangling from your own neck.” Seren rolled her eyes at him. Dean kept piercing her with a suspicious glare making her sigh, “It’s not cursed. Cross my heart.” Seren even made the motion.

“Like the word of a witch is worth much,” Dean huffed.

“I don’t think I have to tell you this, but your brother is impossible. Maybe not all the time, sure, but close. _So_ close,” she complained to Sam, “Anyway, I just thought you might want a guarantee that I won’t just leave to never be seen again.”

“No need.” Sam handed back the jewel, “I trust you.”

Dean groaned. He was so done.

Seren’s eyes widened in shock and confusion, looking completely taken aback by his declaration. Her expression was puzzled, glancing between Sam and her pendant and Dean in no particular order, over and over.

“Okay,” she said slowly, narrowing her eyes suspiciously as she fixed them on Sam.

He got the impression Seren was waiting for him to pull a prank on her, like take away the collar in the last moment before she could grab it and laugh in her face saying something along the lines of ‘who would trust a witch’. It made him wonder just how other hunter’s had treated her to be so cautious when shown a bit of kindness. In fact, he didn’t need to, he only had to take a look at Dean’s attitude towards her to get an idea.

With a sympathetic smile on his face, Sam took one of Seren’s gloved hands carefully. Her eyes widened again and she tensed all over, on guard, but didn’t pull away. Sam couldn’t help but chuckle as he guided her hand to open a bit, palm up, so he could put the pendant on it, giving her a reassuring nod when she closed her fist around it.

She gave him a shy nod back and fastened the collar around her neck slowly, her eyes fixed on his the whole time, searching for clues or tricks, her mistrust running deep within her.

Sam wasn’t bothered by it. As she had said before, it came with the job.

Seren rubbed her nape nervously and cleared her throat twice before speaking, lowering her eyes to the floor, “We could meet back here in… thirty, forty five minutes?”

Sam gave his approval while Dean grunted his, taking a drink from his beer to hide his annoyed pout. She muttered the agreed time again as way of confirmation before breathing her goodbye.

“Oh!” Her eyes snapped up at Sam’s, remembering something. “If you have to postpone for—” Seren gesticulated, searching for a proper wording but finding none, “—whatever, call the second number. I promise there will be an answer this time.”

“Got it,” Sam smiled, grateful.

Seren gave him a nervous thumbs up before turning to go. She had taken only a few steps when she turned back around with an embarrassed smile, signaling the asshole’s wallet on the counter. Once the wallet was save in her jacket, she rushed to the door but stopped when she reached it, turning to look back at them—at Sam.

He couldn’t help but to snicker. In an attempt to hide it, he covered his mouth with his hand but that only served to get Seren’s attention. She gave him a questioning look at which the younger Winchester shook his head as he waved her off with a reassuring smile.

Seren startled and hastily looked around her, trying to find at whom was directed that gesture. There was no one close, so she waved back awkwardly, still unsure, before leaving the place in a hurry.

“You are making eyes at the witch, Sam.” A shadow of a smirk ghosted Dean’s lips despite his annoyance.

“I’m not!” It came out an octave higher than usual.

Dean snorted at the sound. Sam cleared his throat, took a gulp of his tonic and tried again, this time with a deeper tone. Dean laughed wholeheartedly before grimacing at the idea of Seren and Sam together. He ordered another beer to wash away that image.


	3. Chapter 3 — Little Talk

“She isn’t coming back, Sam”

“It’s been half an hour, Dean,” the younger Winchester sighed, tired of his brother’s whining, “She still has fifteen minutes of leeway.”

Dean grunted as he got up from his seat, leaving their booth to get his fifth beer of the night. Sam rested his elbows on the table and then his head on his hands, his fingers tangling in his hair. The wait felt way too long, he could give his brother that.

“We should have forced her to call Sirius back then,” Dean grunted, taking back his seat with a beer in hand.

“I don’t think that would have been a good idea. Ellen would have your ass on a plate if she heard.” A mocking smile appeared on Sam’s lips when Dean shuddered at the thought. “So far, Seren is being reasonable. You, on the other hand…”

“She is a damn witch, Sam!” hissed Dean, hitting the table with the bottle.

The younger Winchester leaned back, giving his brother an incredulous look as he tried to find the right words to argue with him without angering him. After adjusting in his seat, Sam leaned forward again, his arms resting on the table, serious expression on his face.

“Did you have a fling with her?”

Dean choke on his beer, spatting part of it on Sam and the table and himself before a coughing fit made him turn aside, bending in half in an attempt to get his breathing back. Sam took note to never again ask a compromising question to his brother when he was taking a drink in front of him. Like it wasn’t obvious already.

“What?!” the word came out as a screech from Dean’s mouth.

To say he looked dumbfounded was an understatement. His eyes where wide open, seeming like they would pop out of their sockets at any moment. His mouth opened and closed without any noise leaving it. The picture of a bug-eyed fish passed through Sam’s mind.

“I didn’t have a thing with _her_!” shriek-whispered Dean, disgusted grimace on his face, “Don’t be ridiculous! What made you think that? Dude, come on. I would… I never… I just… Ew!”

“Sorry, sorry.” Sam raised his hands in surrender, an amused smile on his lips, “For how you acted it gave me the impression that you two had a fling before finding out about the witch thing.”

“No. No _fling_. Ah-ah. Nope.” Dean shook his head so much, he was dizzy when he finally stopped.

“Then what happened for you to have it in for her?” Sam asked, giving his brother a confused look, “How did you two even met?”

“Dad,” Dean mumbled on his drink before taking a sip.

“You were on a hunt with dad and met her?” Sam’s eyes widened, “Were you hunting _her_?”

“No.” A irritated groan left Dean’s lips as he adjusted on his seat, uncomfortable, “He called her for help.”

“He… He called her? And he knew?” Dean nodded.

Now Sam was completely and utterly lost. If John asking for help was a rare sight, the mere idea of him calling a known witch was unthinkable. Sam kept staring at his brother, wide eyes and a bemused smile on his lips, waiting for him to elaborate and give him the specifics. He would certainly need them now.

“Weird case. Bunch of cursed objects, none the one causing the big problem but still connected, somehow.” Dean took a sip and licked his lips before continuing, “We were running in circles so Dad called an aide. Few hours later, Seren was at our door, ready for business and shooting ideas left and right.”

“And you hate her because…”

“Because she is a freaking witch, Sam!” Dean hissed.

“Wow,” a masculine voice said dryly.

Sam and Dean turned to where the apathetic exclamation came, finding Seren and Sirius besides their booth. Her hair was loosely braided and she wasn’t really paying them any attention, too busy looking around. On the other hand, Sirius was staring daggers at Dean, a scowl on his face, his new short beard along with his bushy eyebrows giving him a more menacing look than when they met at the Roadhouse.

“You are late,” accused Dean, glaring at Seren.

Sirius turned to fully face him and was about to say something when Seren put her hand in front of his chest, shaking her head ‘no’ so he would let it be.

“We are just in time, pretty boy,” came her answer, matter-of-fact, “So how about we get to business? The sooner this is over, the sooner I’ll get out of your sight.”

At that, Sam got up from his seat so each pair of siblings sat in front of the other. After giving him an appreciative nod, Seren motioned for Sirius to sit before offering to get everyone a drink. She hadn’t finished asking and Dean had already harshly rejected the offer, scowling at her as he took a sip of his beer. Unperturbed, she looked at Sam for his answer.

“Ginger ale.” He said with an apologetic smile.

“Rusty Nail,” called Sirius.

“No.” Seren quickly rejected. “No alcohol for you.”

“A Screwdriver then. It’s mostly OJ, right?” He shrugged.

“It _still_ has alcohol, Sirius.” she sighed. “How about a virgin one?”

The boy gasped in fake surprise, “You know what that is?”

“Simple orange juice for you, that’s it.” Seren declared with a frown, turning towards the bar and ignoring her brother’s fake protest as he laughed.

But then he turned towards the Winchesters, smile still on his face but it looked forced as he glared at Dean, his body language tense as he rested his left arm before him on the table.

“Look, _pal_.” He started, tone lighter than his stare. “I’m sure you have your reasons, okay? Some sort of ‘dark traumatic experience’”—he quoted with his fingers—“involving, well, witches, I’m sure. But I must ask you, politely, to cut my sister some slack.” By the way he said ‘politely’ one could easily guess he wouldn’t be shy to use way more drastic ways.

“But she—”

“I don’t care.” Sirius groaned, marking each word and rolling his eyes at Dean. “I don’t care about your issues nor your case. I really don’t! If I’m sitting here right now it’s because, for whatever reason, my sister _does_ care. Even if hunters treat her like shit, she’s still at their beck and call to help. Got an earful about it already because of it,” he added in a mumble.

Dean fell silent, scowling at Sirius as he tried to find words of protest or rebate what he had said, but the apparent friendly expression on the boy’s face made him lose any word available.

Taking advantage of the moment and seeing as Kelly was entertaining Seren at the bar, Sam asked Sirius about the ‘earful’ the girl had given him. That made Sirius flinch and shift uncomfortably on his seat, side glancing at his sister.

“I manage the phones,” he admitted with a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck. “Saw your first call, called back, heard your voicemail and decided to hold back the info and ignore you from there on.”

“You did what?!” Dean was ready to punch some sense on the boy.

“Low the tone, will you? You’ll make a scene.” Sirius warned, taking a glance around and making sure his sister was still at a distance and busy. “What was I supposed to do, pal? You threatened to kill her on sight while having a fucking gun pointed at her.” He turned to Sam. “And you saw and didn’t even bat an eye! And _now_ you were calling her for help? Nuh-uh. Ellen might buy it, but I _don’t_.”

The Winchesters exchanged a look. With that side of the story, even Dean had to admit that the blockade was justified. He was still royally annoyed by it and the time lost because of it, but he could see Sirius’ point.

“So, as I said,” Sirius resumed, “my dear sister didn’t like _one bit_ that I didn’t tell her, much less that I blocked you.”—he moved to what would be Seren’s seat—“‘Could be important, you idiot! People might die.’ She said.”—he moved back to his seat— “‘But that dude wants to kill you, Seren.’ I said.” —he changed seats again— “‘So?’ She said”

To Sam’s and Dean’s bemusement, he motioned with his arms the absurdity of the conversation, his eyes wide open in astonishment. The brothers were finding it kind of hard to don’t laugh at Sirius antics—he had even changed voices to recreate the conversation.

“Can you believe it? Like someone wanting to kill you is no big deal! Oh, but _I’m_ the idiot. Yeah, right!”

“Yes, you are.” Seren replied, setting their drinks on the table and taking her seat “But that discussion is for another day. Here.”

She rummaged in her jacket’s pockets before taking and sliding a folded note to Sam. He took it not after she motioned for him to do so. On it he found a new list of five phone numbers.

“New batch,” she pointed. “If you can’t contact me on those, call Ellen. And, yes, I’ve already called her.” She turned towards Sirius, accusation in her eyes.

“Don’t tell me!” Sirius jumped before she could add anything, a smirk on his face. “She confiscated all the candy.”

“I hate you so much right now.”

“Oh, don’t hate me.” Sirius pouted, nudging her. “I’ll talk her out of it, okay?”

“Could we get back on topic, please?” Dean groaned before gulping what was left of his beer. Just great.

“Are you gonna treat my sister like a decent human being?”

“Is she gonna behave like one?” Dean mumbled.

Sam kicked his brother under the table just at the same time that Sirius got up from his seat with the intention of leaving them there. He didn’t think it through though, because Seren didn’t even flinch as she drank her cherry soda, leaving him trapped there.

“Forgive Dean.” Sam apologized, glaring at his brother. “He already had a few drinks.”

“Sirius, sit down and drink your orange juice.” Seren sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. He didn’t move. “Sit or I’ll sit you, brother.”

“Third of my orange juice for third of your ginger ale.” he offered the younger Winchester as he obeyed his sister.

“Both glasses are full and I’m not getting up for another one. How do you plan to do it?” Seren asked.

“Easy!” Sirius celebrated with a huge smile. “We drink a third of our respective glasses and then, we exchange them!”

“You… you can’t be serious.” she asked, holding his stare.

“But I _am_ Sirius.” the grin on his face couldn’t be wider.

Dean snorted an ugly laugh and Sam almost choked on nothing when he saw the dead, soulless look Seren had on her face as she stared into the nothingness.

“Would like to say he’s tipsy,” she side glanced at the boy who was wiggling his eyebrows at her, proud of his pun and waiting for her to laugh. “Or got hit on the head.” she shrugged, looking at Sam, “But this is just how he is.”

“And you love it.” he nudged her with his elbow, with a last wiggle of his eyebrows.

“Can’t complain.” Seren took a sip of soda. “Much.”

Sirius gasped in false offense. Before he could say anything in return, Dean fake coughed to get their attention back on track.

“So,” Sirius gulped almost half his orange juice before continuing. “I heard you have questions. About a case, right? What sort of case?”

“Demon case.” Dean kind of snapped, noticing Seren’s attention shifting to him for doing so.

“Don’t think I’ll be much help then, I’m afraid.” the boy admitted swirling the juice in his glass around. “We don’t work demons. Right, sis?”

But she didn’t give the easy confirmation Sirius was seeking for with his answer. He gave her a side glance, wary at her silence.

She was holding Dean’s stare, her expression the most neutral she could muster as she waited. Waited for the real questions, not just the guesswork the older Winchester seemed to be doing. There was only one demon case the Winchesters would ask about.

_The_ demon case.

Yellow Eyes.

She knew about it, more than she would like, and she had to be careful. She needed to know just how much the brothers knew. Which pieces of information John had shared with them, which they had collected and which were still missing in their puzzle without revealing her cards. Not yet. She had a hunch of how the conversation would turn if a certain order wasn’t followed. It wasn’t a pretty one. And her hunches were always right.

_Like a tarot reading: all depends on the order and a gut feeling._

“You sure?” asked Dean, his stare still fixed on her.

“We don’t work demons,” she repeated. “Which doesn’t mean we don’t cross paths occasionally. Live and let live, you know?”

“How nice of you,” Dean hissed.

Seren simply shrugged nonchalantly at the accusation in his tone. It stung a bit, but it was better and easier than to excuse herself. As Dean had said that same day: the word of a witch isn’t worth much. That’s why, with a drink of her soda, she swallowed the ones that formed her explanation.

“That’s it? Because I’m not hearing any more questions.” Sirius intervened, crossing his arms before him and glaring at Dean.

“Have you heard anything about a demon army and an upcoming war?” Sam asked them calmly.

“Some,” was Seren’s vague answers. “Hunters talk.”

“Yeah. That Gordon-fella, right?” Sirius commented lightly. Dean glowed at him. “Seeing your face I would say you know the guy!”

“Sirius, not now” Seren warned and her tone left no place for humor after seeing Sam’s hand flinch and his expression tense at the mention of the man. Her brother picked on it and mumbled an apology. “But, yeah, we heard from Gordon. Wanted help on a case. Some tracking.”

“Son of a bitch!” Dean was on his feet in an instant.

Sam was about to pacify him and let the girl speak, but he didn’t have time to do so. As soon as his brother was up, something knocked him back to his seat, pinning him there. Sam’s eyes flew to Seren expecting to see her casting some sort of spell. But she was calm on her seat, eyes closed as she exhaled a defeated and tired sigh.

“Sirius,” she muttered.

That’s when Sam took a closer look at her brother, how his attention was completely fixed on Dean, and the way his hands over the table were tense, his fingers twitching in some sort of effort. There was no doubt now: he was one of the special children too.

“I warned you, _pal_.” Sirius hissed. “Jumping to conclusions before even listening to the end isn’t very nice, you know?”

“You are making it worse.” Seren snapped at him with a sharp glare. “This—” She motioned in the general direction of him and Dean.“—is why they wanted to talk with us—with _you_. Now let him go.”

Not without clicking his tongue in annoyance, Sirius broke eye contact with Dean making him slide on his seat as the force keeping him pinned disappeared. Both boys adjusted on his seats, Sirius cracking his fingers and neck with a smug smile. Dean simply scowled at him.

“So you knew.” Dean grumbled. “And you sold us to Gordon.”

“No, I did not.” Seren retorted with a frown. “Didn’t take the job, pretty boy. Too fishy.”

“What do you mean?” Sam asked, interested.

“There’s certain protocol for hunters to follow if they want me to work with them.” she explained. “Quite simple, really. They just need to get in touch with one of my contacts. Then, if my contact find them and the case legit, they would call me and tell me about the job _and_ the hunter so I know what I’m dealing with.”

“A sort of menace filter.” Sam nodded, understanding. “But Ellen gave us your numbers.”

“Preferential treatment.” answered Sirius. “Means you can be trusted and that my sister will help you for sure in all she can. As long as it doesn’t involve going against demons, that’s it.”

Dean opened his mouth to make a remark about that ‘preferential treatment’ and how beneficial it had been for them, but Sam made him shut it with a look.

“But you change your number constantly!” the older Winchester remembered, pointing at her in accusation. “How good is it to have your number then?”

“You say it like that’s her hobby,” Sirius muttered before taking a sip.

“Answer this, pretty boy. As a hunter,” Seren started, intertwining her fingers over the table. “Let’s say you have this case. Big case. To solve it, you need a specific object. But, alas, it’s in a vault. You try to ask the owner for it, nicely, but the answer is ‘no’. Would you just leave it or go and crack the vault?”

Dean opened his mouth to answer, but stopped himself when he realized, first, that she already knew the answer because that example was part of the case they had worked together and, second, he got her point. If a hunter wanted to find her, they would find a way for do so. Her protocol be damned.

“Gordon tracked you.” Sam murmured, a bit troubled.

“Correct.” She nodded, swirling her soda. “Not sure from where he got the number, so I had to burn a whole batch because of him.”

“But not all?” Sam was really interested in the topic, it seemed. It amused her.

“I’ve got a system of sorts.” Seren shrugged with a smile. “Anyway. To resume: Gordon wanted my help; mentions the demon army but not more details; I refuse and kick him out. The end.”

“Just like that?” Dean asked with a suspicious look. “Sounds too easy.”

“Would you have preferred for me to curse him or something?” she smirked, making him huff.

“Also, for someone that wants you out of their face as soon as possible, he really is letting this conversation diverge. Don’t you think so?” Sirius observed.

Both Seren and Sam coughed a laugh at Dean’s affronted expression while Sirius smiled impishly at him. The older Winchester made an excuse about needing another drink to survive their little reunion and got up, hitting the table with both hands as he did. Sam got up too to let him pass, hearing his brother mumble to himself about what he had to deal with as he went to the bar. At that, the three in the both started laughing.

“So, what do you guys know?” Dean asked once he got back.

“Depends on what _you_ know.” Sirius returned, chin high and Seren swatted him in the chest giving him a reproachful look. “Hey! What was that for?”

“If you wanted to be a smart ass with him, you shouldn’t have had that little outburst before.” she admonished. “Kind of shows your hand openly, don’t ya think?”

“Damn it. You are right.” he admitted with an exaggerated pout before getting serious again. “Okay. So, we know my little magic trick appeared out of nowhere, that their source it’s a demon, and that’s it. Oh, and I’m having some freaky dreams with yellow eyes flashing around from time to time. No biggie.”

“When did your power appear?” Dean shot, gulping his drink.

“About a year ago,” Sirius answered turning to his sister to confirm it. She nodded and took a sip of her soda.

“When you left Stanford?” Sam grimaced at his brother’s straightforwardness, thinking that it hadn’t been a good idea for him to get another beer.

It had been a surprise when they found that Sirius had gone to Stanford too. Then, after checking the date he left and how close it was to Jessica’s death, it had become a tad bit too much of a coincidence. Either way, Dean shouldn’t have brought Stanford so out of the blue because now both siblings would close up. Sam was sure with only one look at them.

Sirius had leaned away, shocked, a troubled look on his face as he turned to his sister, asking in a whisper how they knew that. Seren’s expression was guarded. Alert but keeping calm as she looked at Dean over her glass, a hard look on her narrowed eyes as she attempted to discern which pieces of information they had and which ones they where fishing for.

“His powers appeared around the first half of October. A month before he left,” She declared on her brother’s behalf. Then, she turned to Sam, “And yours? When did they appear?”

Now it was Dean’s turn to go defensive, stiffening on his seat as he tried to find a way to negate anything and everything. Needless to say, Seren wasn’t buying none of it even for a second, much less with the way Dean was stuttering—not much, but just enough. He almost knocked his beer down in the process.

Sirius, on this part, just stared wide eyed at his sister, asking her in a loud whisper how she knew that. The girl gave him a meaningful look before rolling her eyes at him when his clueless expression remained where it was.

“You don’t look into a case like this unless you are involved somehow. And you heard pretty boy when I mentioned Gordon’s tracking job.” Seren explained with a sight, rubbing her temple.

“Okay,” Sirius dragged the word. “But how did you know the one with powers is Sam and not Dean?”

Seren choked on her drink and Sam was grateful she was quick enough to cover her mouth in case she spat the soda all over him. She coughed, trying to recover her breath while Sirius patted and rubbed her back in an attempt to help.

“Yes, princess. How did you know that?” Dean taunted, crossing his arms, chest out.

Both siblings turned to tell him to don’t call her that, Seren still coughing and Sirius grimacing at Dean.

“You had to pick up on that, didn’t you?” the girl grumbled under her breath towards her brother before turning to the Winchesters, scratching her cheek. “I guessed.”

“How?”

“Drink your orange juice, Sirius.” she said with a tight smile before taking a sip of her own drink.

“Guessed based on what?” Dean squinted his eyes at her evasive.

“On what John told me,” Seren answered back with a harsh look.

Things couldn’t be more awkward.

“Sirius!” a high pitched squeal that menaced to pierce everyone’s eardrums called from the entrance.

Yes. Yes, they could.


	4. Chapter 4 — Premonition

A beautiful brunette with a bright smile waved at their table from the door as she unzipped her coat to show lighter, more flattering and less covering clothes. She motioned for the bar to tell them she would go there before going to them.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Seren hissed at her brother with an accusing glare. “What is she doing here?”

“I thought we would be done with our little reunion by now,” he whispered back.

“Does it seem like we are done?!”

Sirius mouthed an apology before making his sister get up from her seat in a hurry so he could intercept the girl—no drink in her hand so she must have gone to simply chat with Kelly—, before she reached their table.

As soon as he was up, the girl practically tackled him in a hug, her arms tight around his waist, brown doe eyes looking up at him with just a glint of mischievousness as she bit her lower lip coyly.

“I’ve got you!” she said in a sing-song voice, screeching a bit at the end.

“So it seems,” Sirius laughed, passing an arm around her shoulders and making her stand on his side. She didn’t lose the embrace. “Guys, this is Lucy. Lucy, the guys”

The Winchesters greeted the girl back a bit awkwardly when she waved at them, doing their best to hide their slight confusion. Seren was too busy massaging her temples with her eyes tightly closed, mouthing words no one could hear. Dean even tried to read her lips when he thought she might be casting some kind of spell.

“You are done here, right? We can go now, right?” Lucy’s interrogation tone reached a pitch too high at the end for their liking.

“Actually, we are not done.” Seren cut with a stern voice along a warning look directed at her brother.

“Well, I don’t see much conversation going on,” the girl snorted.

“That’s because you appeared and interrupted it,” Seren replied with the hint of a glare.

“Look, don’t hold him back just because you are jealous. You lost your chance and he is mine now.” Lucy boasted before giving her a once over. A sweet smile adorned her lips after. “You’re not bad yourself. Shame I’m not in a sharing mood today. Another time, maybe?”

Confusion crossed Seren’s face as she seemed to take in the meaning of what Lucy had said. Her expression went completely blank before turning, slowly, into a mix of bewilderment and embarrassment, closing her eyes tightly with a scowl when she finally caught up. The other girl giggled.

“Sirius.” Seren called, her voice more stern and her tone more urgent this time.

“She is my sister, Lucy.” he laughed.

“Sister, sister? Or legal–papers–say–she’s–my–sister kind of sister?” Lucy asked, batting her eyelashes at him for some reason.

“Sister, sister.” he chuckled.

“Double shame.”

Sam could swear, by Seren’s dead expression, that her head was playing ‘Hello darkness, my old friend’ on repeat at that moment to cope. While he felt pity for her, Dean was having a good time seeing her put in a bind.

“I’m sorry Lucy, but the reunion stretched on a bit.” Sirius told her, making her pout coquettish. “We’ll have to reschedule.”

“But you said you were leaving tomorrow.” Lucy whined, getting on her tip toes so she was closer to Sirius’ ear. “And I thought…”

None of the others could hear what she was telling him, but could take some guess seeing how Sirius’ Adam’s apple bobbed. Lucy finished her tale only to face him as she licked her lower lip, gesture he mirrored, lost in her eyes and the promise of a really good time.

“Are you sure we can’t just… go?” she purred.

“Yeah…” he managed to croak. “Yeah, we can… we can go.”

“Sirius!” Seren called, outraged.

“You can finish without me. I mean, you were gonna do most of the talking anyway and I’ll just keep pointing stuff that shouldn’t be pointed at. So…” he said with a sheepish smile, shrugging his shoulders as he took a first step towards the exit. “Be back in…” he turned to look at Lucy. “Actually, don’t wait for me. See you in the morning, sis!”

The couple left in a hurry, Lucy still clinging to Sirius, giggling in her high pitched voice that seemed to go higher by the moment.

Seren sat back at the booth, gesturing at the silent Winchesters for a moment to compose herself as she massaged the bridge of her nose, eyes closed and brow furrowed.

“I’m so, so sorry” she apologized sincerely with a tired sigh, her eyes still closed. “But Sirius might be right. We can finish this while he is… Well…”

“Getting laid,” Dean completed for her with an amused smirk that made her cringe and groan when she saw it.

“He is an irresponsible idiot. That’s what he is.” Seren sighed, holding her head with her hands, elbows on the table. “This whole thing is important. What the hell is he thinking?”

“In getting laid, obviously,” Dean pointed out.

“Are you having fun, pretty boy?” she grumbled, not even bothering to raise her head to look at him.

“Plenty considering current company.” Seren couldn’t help but groan at the jab. “What did you do for dad to tell you about Sammy?”

“Nothing,” she hissed, sitting back on her seat so she could rest her back on it and crossed her arms before her. “And he didn’t tell me about Sam _per se_.”

“But you knew.” Dean accused.

“Yes!” the girl snapped hands in the air.

Dean was about to add something, but Sam took the chance to intervene. “Dad knew about Sirius, right?” he asked, softly.

“Yes.” she answered him with a nod. Her tone had softened to match the one he had used.

Dean huffed at that change, crossing his arms and muttering something to himself. Sam ignored him, glad to see she was still willing to stay, even talk when asked nicely. If the situation was on the inverse, Dean would have stormed out of there after all the nagging.

“Did he tell you…” Sam continued, moistening his lips as he thought the best way to say what he wanted to ask. “Did he tell you what might be our last resort? With the special children, I mean.”

She flinched at his words, her eyes going slightly wider and with a kind of lost look on them. It only lasted a moment before she fixed her expression to something more neutral, taking a deep breath before answering.

“Yes,” she sighed. “He said I had to be ready in case… In case I had to…” she shook her head, unable to finish the sentence. “Like one can ever be ready to do that,” she added with a bitter smile, scratching something from her glass.

“No wonder you almost ripped us a new one as soon as we mentioned Sirius before.” Sam commented, trying to lighten the mood.

She laughed softly and apologized for overreacting like she had. Sam waved her off, assuring her there was nothing to apologize for, that he understood their situation demanded an extra of caution.

“And when did dad tell you about the case exactly?” Dean interrupted them.

“Dude, stop it.” Sam chided him.

“What! It’s a legitimate question to ask.” he turned back to Seren while Sam huffed, shaking his head in resignation. “Well?”

“Last year. July 16th,” she answered staring straight at him as he went stiff, just as she had expected he would.

It was the day John Winchester died after all.

“He thought I deserved to know and he said he didn’t have much time left,” Seren finished her drink in one gulp, wishing it was something stronger. “He told me even after I said I didn’t wanna know.”

“Why?” Sam asked a bit stunned at the admission. “Why wouldn’t you want to know what’s after your brother?”

“It wouldn’t change anything,” her tone was controlled, but there was remorse in her eyes. “Yellow Eyes is a demon and I don’t deal with demons. Best option is to just look after my brother and wait it out.”

Dean scoffed something that sounded close to ‘coward’ and, by the twitch of Seren’s eyebrow, she clearly heard it. She forced herself to take a deep breath to don’t snap at him.

“I’ll tell you what I told John the first time this issue came up: my hands are tied, but I’ll keep an eye out.” she assured Sam. “Unless you wanna add something else, this reunion is over.”

“I have a question, if you don’t mind.” the younger Winchester jumped at the occasion. He even raised one hand to shoulder level to ask for permission.

“Go on, I guess.” she shrugged, surprised he waited for her to agree to be questioned.

“Why don’t you fight demons?”

“Really, Sam?” Dean scoffed. “Why would a witch go against their master? The one that gives them power? That’s a hard one.”

“You are impossible, pretty boy.” Seren huffed, rolling her eyes as she got up and stretched her arms, getting ready to leave.

“Impossibly charming.” he wiggled his eyebrows, arm on the table and leaning towards her a bit.

Both Seren and Sam turned slowly to him with a bewildered expression. Even with them staring intently at him, it took Dean a moment to actually register what he was doing. He shook his head, blaming the beers he had had as he scowled at what was left of the one in his hand.

“I think we should call this a day. For everyone’s sanity” Seren declared, looking warily at Dean. “Good luck with your case, lads.”

Sam made to follow her but staggered, his vision going blurry for a moment. Flashes of images obscured his sight and his head started to throb. His hand shot up to hold it as sharp needles stabbed his brain, a grunt of pain leaving his lips when he held a scream back.

 

* * *

 

_Fast footsteps. Panting and soft whimpers and sobs. The bar, dark streets, rundown buildings… A warehouse. A crying brunette, her back pressed against a wall of bricks as if trying to merge into it. A metallic flash in front of her. A knife spinning in the air over an extended hand. The sharp sound of a blade cutting air. A pair of brown eyes devoid of emotion looking at the girl as she cries and begs. The knife stops rotating and launches itself towards the girl. A shrieking scream attempts to leave her lips but it comes mute as the blade sinks in her chest. Steady steps echo in the place as the girl slides and drops to the floor. A tall figure stops besides Lucy’s dead body, nudging it with a foot, checking for response. Getting none, Sirius crouches in front of it to retrieve the knife with a sharp yank._

 

* * *

 

It took Sam a while to get back to himself after the vision, breathing shallow and fast. His head pounded and an insistent pain had lodged itself in the back of his eyes making him keep them tightly closed. He cleaned the thin sheet of cold sweat that covered his forehead with the back of his hand as the other reached for anything to ground him there, in the present. It found the seat he had occupied and Dean’s arm reaching to steady him. His brother was calling him, but his voice sounded as if they were underwater.

He felt a pair of hands close by his face, fingers trembling slightly and barely touching him. He forced his eyes open, brow furrowed, the pain dimming slowly. His vision was unfocused, only letting him see a blur of red, black and tan in front of him. Slowly, it focused until it became Seren’s worried face. She was kneeling besides him. Her lips twitched in a relieved smile as her hands rested on his face carefully, thumbs caressing his skin with soft, comforting touches. Her sharp eyes focused on his, barely blinking, worry now mixed with something else he couldn’t name.

“Get your hands off of him!” Dean shouted at her.

She obeyed, her fingers leaving Sam’s face as if burned and stepping back from him. Sam watched as her eyes started roaming around, a puzzled expression on her face, brow a bit furrowed and head tilted to a side. It was like her thoughts where floating around her and she was trying to connect them. Her hands were still raised and her fingers twitched slightly.

Sam could hear Dean asking him questions, but couldn’t understand the words he was saying, his voice still muffled. But he could guess, not like he needed to. They had no time to lose if his vision was correct.

“We… We have to…” Sam stumbled to get up and to speak, mouth dry and thoughts a jumble. “Sirius… He…”

The name of her brother took Seren out of the daze she had fallen into. She turned to Sam, blinking a few times before her eyes widened in realization and alarm.

“Bloody hell!” Seren got up in a leap. “Second star from the right?”

“What are you now? Peter Pan?”

“That’s _to_ the right, not _from,_ ” the girl corrected him. “Sam!”

“Yes!” Sam blurted out

And with that, Seren sprinted out of the bar in a rush.

“Hey! Where are you going!” Dean called in frustration after her but she was already gone. “What’s going on, Sammy?”

“It’s Sirius. We have to stop him.” Sam was up, but his legs felt wobbly. “Go! I’ll catch up in a minute.”

Dean gave his brother a last pleading look before cursing and going after the girl. He exited the bar just in time to see Seren turn a corner. He cursed again and sprinted after her. The chase continued a few turns more before he finally missed her. If there had been no traffic around, he was sure he could have followed the sound of her footsteps, but no such luck.

He was about to kick something to vent his frustration when Sam called after him, signaling where to go next even before he reached him. Dean didn’t question it and went for it. Between pants and gaps, his brother filled him in about the flying-knife vision, how Sirius was the one controlling it and how, somehow, Seren seemed to had seen it too.

“Over there,” Sam pointed.

Dean was right behind him, looking around cautiously. They had arrived at an almost abandoned part of town with, of course, warehouses and bad lit alleys. They went inside one of the warehouses, finding a bunch of doors. The dim light from the street lamps that entered through the windows let them see just enough to make out the doors signs. Dean had to do a double take after seeing some of those: stars. He couldn’t help but to roll his eyes with a fed up groan when he linked those with Seren’s words before she bolted out.

A shrieking scream startled them into action, going through the door and sprinting towards the source, kicking open one last door, eliciting a new frightened yelp from Lucy.

Just like in Sam’s vision, she was pressed against the far wall to their right. An invisible force had her raised from the ground about an inch. Seren was right in front of her, the flying knife floating hardly a palm away from her face. She was unfazed by it, her gaze fixed on her brother, lurking in the shadows.

“Please, help me.” Lucy cried over and over.

“Let her go, Sirius.” Seren commanded with a glare. It wasn’t the first time she was telling him.

“It’s an act,” he assured her calmly, making the knife return to his extended hand, floating over it, spinning. “ _That_ is a shapeshifter.”

Dean gave Sam a puzzled look. If it was true then the situation was completely different to what they believed it to be. Sam shook his head, certain of his visions’ veracity. Sirius would end up killing an innocent girl, not a monster. The issue now was how to prove it to him, peacefully.

“Have you tested her?” Seren asked nonchalantly.

“Are you doubting me?” The knife stopped spinning.

“I just asked if you tested her,” Seren said with a leveled voice. “It’s an easy question.”

“And now you mock me,” he snarled, pacing around, the knife spinning once again. “Do you think I’m stupid? You think so, don’t you?”

“Sirius?” Seren looked truly confused. And more alert.

“You treat me like I’m still a kid. Like I can’t do anything right. That’s why you drag me around to ‘keep me safe’, huh?” Sirius sneered “Well, lucky us, I’m not as stupid as you might think so trust me in this, sister. If I say that’s a shapeshifter it’s because it fucking is!”

The knife jerked violently before flying forward.

Everything became a blur. A high pitched scream, unintelligible shouts and a gunshot echoed in the room. After, only silence broken by pitiful sobs.

Whatever had been holding Lucy was gone and she now sat on the floor hugging her knees, her head buried in her arms, mumbling almost incoherent pleas of wanting to go home.

Dean had his gun drawn out, pointed in Sirius’ direction. The hunter had gone for the kill but, right before he pulled the trigger, his arms had moved upwards and to a side just enough for the bullet to miss its target on the boy’s skull.

Sirius was trembling, breath ragged and his skin looked pale and sweaty. His extended arm was shaking violently. His eyes, wide opened in a horrified expression, alternated between looking at his sister and the armed Winchester.

Seren had moved to stand once more between the crying girl and the knife. It had stopped right before stabbing her in the chest, scratching her jacket. She looked unfazed by it though, her eyes fixed with a hard stare on Dean or, to be more specific, frowning at the gun in his hands. Her left arm was extended in his direction while her right hand was tightly closed over a pendant on her neck. Her stance was firm, authoritative even, and her gaze held a warning.

Sam looked around, piecing together what had just transpired. In his self-righteousness, Sirius had thrown his knife. Dean had taken out his gun to shoot him in an attempt to stop him. Seren had done… _something_ to throw of Dean’s shot. The explosion of the gun had brought Sirius back to his senses, stopping the knife from stabbing his sister in the very last moment.

The boy let his raised arm fall, the knife following the motion, making a metallic sound when it hit the floor. He looked at his now trembling hands, horrified, his mind fighting to come around what had just happened before turning to his sister, mortified.

“Seren. I… I’m…” He was blinking back tears. “I’m sorry. I… I just…”

“Did you test her?” she asked again, as if nothing had happened, not even looking at him, still staring at Dean’s gun.

“We… We took a… We took a photo. Before.” he stuttered, mouth dry. “There was a… a flare. In her eyes.”

His eyes, his expression, his posture, his movements. His whole behavior was begging, screaming, for his sister to look at him, even if only a glance, and see how sorry he was for what he had almost done to her.

She sighed, “The flare it’s a clue, not proof. Could be a false alarm. Wouldn’t be a first.”

The explanation came calmly, no accusation on it. Then, Seren finally turned to look at him, her stare hard, her voice even harder when she asked once more if he had tested Lucy properly.

The boy tensed at the dry tone. He looked at Seren, eyes pleading, begging, for her to show him something more than that harshness he no doubt deserved. Something that assured him that things would be fine, somehow. That _they_ would be fine after everything was over. That she understood he hadn’t meant to attack her. Not really. Something had compelled him to do so. To become violent.

But her severe expression didn’t waver, not even for a second.

Defeated, he lowered his head before shaking it negative, unable to utter a single word without his voice cracking.

With a heavy sigh, Seren crouched to pick up the knife. She checked the blade in the dim light before getting up and turning around to go towards the crying Lucy.

“Seren,” Sam called, hesitant.

“Not a move,” Dean warned, angling his gun to point at her.

She obeyed, stopping half step. Ever so slowly, she turned to face them, hands raised to her shoulders height in surrender. The knife was loosely held with two fingers, showing she didn’t mean to use it against them nor anyone else.

“Silver,” she noted, motioning to the blade and swaying it softly so it got their attention. “I’m just going to test her. She doesn’t react, she’s no shapeshifter and we can all go.”

“One wrong more—” Dean started.

“Bullet to the head.” Seren finished for him with a nod.

There was no humor in her words, just facts.

She stood there, waiting, her eyes fixed on Dean’s. Only when he motioned for her to go did she resume her way to the crying girl. Once she got close enough, Seren started whispering words of comfort to Lucy ever so softly. For a moment, it almost sounded like a lulling hum to Sam.

Lucy’s head rose from her arms, peeking at Seren. The whimpering and begging increased in urgency and volume when she saw the knife in Seren’s hands, trying to back away from her and clinging to the wall behind her.

Both Winchesters watched intently as Seren stopped and crouched down, a safe distance between her and Lucy, showing her hands and shushing her like one would do to a scared child before getting vaccinated. The black haired girl kept to her whispering, so they couldn’t hear the specifics but, whatever she was saying, it seemed to be working.

Sam found himself enthralled watching the calm interaction. Even if he was somewhat distracted, he still could hear Dean gritting his teeth. He was sure that his brother would have rolled his eyes quite a few times by now at how long a simple silver test was taking if it didn’t mean losing sight of Seren for even a second.

After some more whispering, Seren took off her jacket so she could roll up one sleeve, no sudden movements and making sure Lucy could see what she was doing at all time. Next, she showed the brunette the blade before nicking the skin of her own arm just enough to draw blood.

Lucy shook at that, her breathing turning fast as she started crying again. Seren hushed her softly, backing away to give the girl more space and showing her hands to reassure her that she meant no harm. It seemed to work and Lucy calmed down again.

It was almost endearing. Almost.

Out of nowhere and with a harsh move, Lucy extended one of her arms towards Seren. She took it softly, still whispering reassurances as she rolled up the sleeve and nicked her skin carefully.

Lucy let out a little whimper and nothing more.

“She’s clean!” Seren called after observing the cut a moment before rummaging in her pockets for a band-aid.

Sam and Dean exhaled a relieved breath at that, the later putting away his gun, but not after making sure Seren had done the same with the knife.

Seren got up from the floor and helped Lucy do the same, her legs so wobbly she had to use the wall for support. They almost tripped over themselves a few times trying to go towards the exits.

Seeing their little problem, Sam went to help, followed by Dean. Sirius made to do the same, but a pointed look from his sister stopped him dead in his tracks.

Both Seren and Sam offered to carry Lucy, making the girl giggle nervously and Dean to roll his eyes at them. After Lucy accepted Sam’s offer, he passed his arms under her shoulders and the back of her knees, carrying her bridal style. Once he had adjusted his hold on her, the girl rested her head on his chest, the beat of his heart soothing her nerves a bit.

“I could’ve done that too, you know?” Seren huffed, crossing her arms and looking slightly insulted for being rejected.

“Sure you could.” Dean rolled his eyes at her, again.

“But of course! I’ve carried you once, remember?” she commented offhandedly.

A snort of laugh escaped Sam by accident and Lucy hid a giggle. Dean looked at Seren dumbfounded and with a touch of betrayal in his expression, like she had just broken a pinkie promise to never tell. His brows furrowed, annoyed, before he turned and stomped towards the exit, grumbling under his breath.

The young woman looked at Sam and shrugged at the older Winchester’s behavior with a small—bit mischievous—smile on her lips. It didn’t reach her tired eyes though. She was trying to lighten the mood and Sam appreciated the effort.

Lucy wailed, hiding her face in Sam’s chest, grasping his shirt tight. That made them turn around full alert, only to find that Sirius had approached them. His head was still down, peeking at his sister, remorse shinning in his eyes. He called her name in a whisper, unsure, like a child calling one of his parents after breaking something important, waiting for the scolding.

“We’ll talk later, brother.” Seren muttered sharply at him. Then she turned to Sam, her eyes on the trembling form in his arms. “I think it’s about time we take Lucy home.”


	5. Chapter 5 — Let's Call It a Night

To say the walk to Lucy’s place had been awkward would be the understatement of the decade.

Even though Dean had been the one to leave the warehouse first, he ended up following right behind Sirius, who, in turn, followed Sam and Seren at a safe distance—enough for Seren to keep an eye on him while hiding his presence as much as possible from Lucy. The older Winchester’s excuse for his position at the back was the advantage of having everyone in sight, just in case someone acted out. He specifically glared at Seren as he said so. Not Sirius.

Both the young woman and Sam rolled their eyes at his words before exchanging a look and chuckling softly—a bit embarrassed—when they noticed the other had done the same. They looked like schoolkids with a crush for a moment. It only irritated Dean more.

When they finally arrived to the entrance hall of Lucy’s building, there had been a ‘little’ argument between Seren and Dean, for a change. Sam was supposed to carry the girl to her very doorstep, but Seren insisted she had to accompany them. When asked why, she avoided the question. That’s when Dean became suspicious of her motives and refused to let her go with them unless he went too. To add, Seren had been stuck between leaving Sirius with Dean while she went with Sam, making her feel uneasy—never specified uneasy for whom though—, or have her brother go with them, which meant having Lucy on the brink of a panic attack.

In the end, Lucy assured _everyone_ she could climb the stairs to her flat on the second floor, by herself, without any problem.

“You sure?” Sam asked as he lowered her to the ground.

“Yes. Really, really sure,” Lucy answered with a shy laugh before turning to Seren. “I think I must thank you.”

“Oh! No, no.” she denied with a chirpy laugh. The sudden change made the Winchesters give her a puzzled look. “We are the ones who must thank you, Lucy. Without you, our cinema project would be such a let down.”

Both Sam and Dean fully turned to her with confused expressions. Dean was about to ask what the hell she was talking about or if she had loose a crew when Lucy laughed happily at her words, even if with a touch of shy nervousness, tucking her hair behind her ear.

“Well, you lot looked really pitiful, for starters. And with a cast like this one,” she signaled for the whole group. “How could I refuse!”

The girls laughed gleefully while the Winchesters were still puzzled, trying to keep it concealed for Lucy’s sake. Dean’s expression was starting to turn annoyed thought, glowering at Seren who just ignored him.

“You bailed us out, really. And on such short notice! Thanks a _billion_. And—” Seren winced as she motioned for Lucy’s arm. The one with the cut, “—sorry for that. Should have payed more attention to the stupid props.”

“Don’t worry about it. Accidents happen and it’s not like anyone died.” Lucy dismissed with a wave of her hand before laughing. “And I get to wear this adorable band-aid. It’s so cute.”

After hugging everyone goodbye—even Sirius, which left the Winchesters completely dumbfounded—Lucy turned around with a big smile, asking them to call her if they ever where around town again before going upstairs practically skipping.

“Okay. What the hell.” Sam found his words first.

“When did you fucking brain-wash her?!” Dean almost screamed. “Where did you find the time?!”

“It’s… It’s just a little… trick.” Seren mumbled, tapping her cheek and avoiding their eyes. She seemed truly ashamed of having resorted to it. “A little hex. Alters memories a tiny bit. Completely harmless.”

“You brain-washed her!” Dean snapped. “How can that be harmless!”

“Did she look unhappy or in pain to you?” Seren replied quirking an eyebrow at him and crossing her arms.

“That’s not the point and you damn know it!” Dean hissed, pointing an accusatory finger at her. “And when… No.”

Dean’s eyes had gone wide in realization before scowling at Seren, waving the accusing finger around as he turned towards Sam, giving him a frustrated look because neither of them took notice of her move: the band-aid.

“Yeah…” Seren admitted reluctantly, rubbing her cheek when Sam looked at her for confirmation. “Cute band-aids sugarcoat what happened. I have others… Doesn’t matter.”

“So now she thinks…” Sam prompted for her to complete.

“That we asked her for help at the bar and the showdown at the warehouse was part of our little short film project where I got the prop knife and a real one mixed up by accident.” She looked the Winchesters dead in the eye. “Nothing more, nothing less. I swear.”

The brother’s exchanged a look, deciding that, even if it wasn’t a perfect solution, it was better than Lucy suffering the consequences of that event. After exchanging a look, Sam nodded at Seren while Dean turned aside.

“Ask next time,” he warned.

“Next time?” she was seriously confused by his word choice, tilting her head to a side.

“You know what I mean,” he sighed, tired.

Not really, but she simply shrugged her shoulders in loose agreement anyway. A scoff made her tense before turning to the source, finding Sirius looking at her with hard eyes and a frustrated, nasty scowl.

“Got something to say, brother dearest?” the girl asked, chin up and crossing her arms before her chest, daring him to say something.

For a moment, it seemed that Sirius would keep his thoughts to himself, lower his head and back down of whatever storm was forming, his shame and regret from the incident resurfacing. But as soon as those came, they vanished. He came closer, standing right in front of her and mirrored her stance.

“You, dear sister, are a hypocrite,” Sirius spat at her with a smug smile and a defiant glare, making Seren flinch at the accusation. “You lie when it suits you and use your powers whenever and however you please but forbid me for using mine.”

“Oh, you wanna go there _now_ , huh?” she sneered before motioning to the Winchester’s general direction with her head as she shifted her weight. “You sure?”

“Please, dear sister: enlighten me,” he mocked with a bow.

“As you wish,” Seren practically growled the worlds, returning the bow with a flourish.

When she straightened back up, head held high, her presence felt bigger. Imposing. All present felt the _need_ to take a cautious step back from her. The Winchesters did so, but Sirius managed to stand his ground, even if his eyes showed a shadow of hesitation.

“For starters, _I_ control my powers. Not the other way around. Big, _important_ detail there,” Seren started.

“So do I,” Sirius pointed out with a scoff, regaining a bit of his confidence.

“Secondly,” based on her harsh tone and the withering look she gave him, Seren didn’t agree nor appreciated the interruption one bit. “I’ve been trained. For years. And I don’t use them ‘whenever I please’. I use them when it’s _absolutely necessary_ : I used them to save you from getting a bullet in the brain and I used them so that poor Lucy could forget the terror of almost being murdered. In cold blood. With a flying knife. By the lad she was about to sleep with.

“You, on the other hand,” she continued, pinning him down with a hard glare, “lack proper control of your powers. They seem to give you some sort of… of ‘high’ that makes you so freaking _self-righteous_ —” she spat the word, “—that you forget to make a basic silver test. Because you are not stupid, right? How could you be wrong, right?”

The boy winced at that. Even the Winchester did and they had nothing to do with any of it: they were merely witnesses to some sibling drama—for once.

Sirius made an attempt to interrupt his sister, but she cut him off in a blink, raising her hand sharply with a warning look that left him crystal clear that she was far from done yet. He had been warned.

“You used you powers twice today: first to… I don’t know. Make a power move?” she asked turning to Dean for confirmation. He nodded after realizing it wasn’t a rhetoric question. “And, just now, to _kill_ ,” her voice wavered due to anguish, the fear of what could have happened.

“And, let’s not forget, dear brother. I don’t lie outside of the job and never, ever to you.” she started pacing around him predatory. “So believe me when I say you are not stupid.”

With that said, Seren jumped Sirius from the back, sending both of them down—quite a feat considering the size difference between them. Once on the ground, they started wrestling and rolling around, shouting.

In the blink of an eye, the grave atmosphere was gone, leaving two siblings scrabbling around in the ground like children fighting for a toy. The Winchester stood there, confused to the bits, not understanding what was going on anymore nor what they should do apart for shooing curious passerby.

Finally, Seren had her brother immobilized on the ground, arms restrained as she sat on his back. At some point, she had taken off Sirius’ belt and now used it to hold his hands in place at his back while she rummaged his cargos’ pockets, searching for something.

“As I said, brother. I don’t think you are stupid.” she repeated, a bit breathless, as she started patting him down. “Although you have to admit that picking this up after I specifically told you it’s cursed, it’s quite stupid.”

From one of his cargo’s pockets, she produced a leather bracelet and waved it tight in front of his nose so he could take a good look of it, making him cross his eye a bit. Shock was written all over Sirius’ face when he recognized it, opening and closing his mouth, shaking his head with a frown as he attempted to make sense of what had just happened.

“What the… I… I swear I put it back! I put it right where it was!”

“And that’s why I told you to don’t even touch it in the first place,” she sighed, putting away the bracelet. She made no motion of getting up. “Is there any other complain you might like to add? Now that you are sober?”

“No, ma’am. I’m sorry, ma’am.”

“Good,” she nodded approvingly, patting his cheek in a patronizing way.

Dean cleared his throat loudly, gaining the siblings attention, the expression of his face asking for a coherent explanation. Seren’s eyes widened before shutting them tight with a groan, pinching the bridge of her nose and mumbling something under her breath.

“Yeah. Quick resume,” she nodded, raising her hands in surrender before Dean could say anything against them. She was still sitting on Sirius’ back, “Cursed object. Amplifies everything negative. Add demonic powers and a self-assured high to the mix and you get homicidal mayhem. Remove cursed object, brother’s back to normal. The end.”

“Worst movie plot ever.” Sirius laughed. “Would you mind getting up and freeing me now, sis? The sidewalk isn’t exactly clean and I can barely feel my hands.”

“If this was a movie you would be the idiot to activate the curse. Oh, wait.” Seren sassed him as she freed him and helped him up.

He barked a laugh before messing her already messed hair after their little grapple, asking for her to give him some tips for future fights. She shooed him away with a maybe.

“Shouldn’t it affect you now?” Sam commented, looking at her warily. “The curse?”

“It isn’t immediate, it builds up.” Seren explained. “Got a few hours, maybe. More than enough time to put it in quarantine.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to, I don’t know, get rid of it?” Dean glared at her. She gave him a squinted look, not understanding his point. “Destroy it?” he added.

“I don’t think my client would be happy I did that to their order,” she answered with her head tilted, bemused.

Dean threw his arms in the air, completely fed up, giving his brother an incredulous look meant to say something along the lines of ‘you want me to be civil about this bullshit? We get rid of this bullshit!’. Sam just shrugged his shoulders with a grimace admitting that the girl wasn’t making it easy at the moment to ignore her witch business.

“For the record, she didn’t make it. She’s just retrieving it.” Sirius informed, seeing their exchange.

“Making it. Retrieving it. Not much difference in my books. Someone else gets to use it.” Dean answered. “A witch is a witch.”

Sirius went for him rolling his sleeve dramatically, the older Winchester following suit, both getting ready for some brawling when Seren and Sam stepped in, stopping their respective brother.

“Enough!” Seren told them off, “Reunion’s over. Each party goes their merry way. That was the deal.”

She was looking at the Winchesters, waiting for their reaction. Once again, Sam had the impression she was waiting for the other shoe to fall, for them to reveal it had been all a trick. A trap.

Seeing this, Sam stepped right before his brother, effectively blocking him and stood there, his posture as non-menacing as he could before giving Seren a firm nod.

“That was the deal,” he repeated in a reassuring tone and Seren somewhat relaxed.

With a sigh and a frustrated groan, Dean turned around and walked away. After giving Seren and Sirius one last nod goodbye and a smile, Sam followed his brother.

 

* * *

 

“Stop following us!” Dean shouted, turning around to face the siblings.

“For the last freaking time, pretty boy: we are _not_ following you!” Seren shouted back at him through her teeth. She looked weary, hunched, with her hands in her pockets and Dean’s attitude wasn’t helping her bad mood.

“Yeah, sure” Dean scoffed. “You just happen to go in the same direction, right?

“Who’s being paranoid now, huh?” the girl pointed out.

Dean flinched slightly before glaring at her. Before they had a chance to keep going with their bickering, Sirius intervened, pushing his grumbling sister so they were walking before the Winchesters now.

End of the discussion.

Or so he and Sam would have liked.

Dean started grumbling about their pace, complaining about how slow their stride was, pointing at Seren’s short legs—compared to theirs—as the cause. His words only made her go even slower, dragging her feet as she glowered at him with a side look, daring him to go before them and complain again that they were going in the same direction.

“My sister gets cranky when she doesn’t sleep her hours too many days in a row.” Sirius commented to Sam as they watched their siblings being childish. “Someone picking on her just feeds her crankiness. What’s your brother’s excuse?”

Sam gave him a clipped smile and shrugged as answer, making Sirius shakes his head in resignation. His expression lightened when he saw the motel they where staying in, signaling to it with a relieved smile, thinking they could finally go their way and loose the pair of hunters. Sam’s awkward smile told him it wouldn’t be that easy.

“You have to be kidding me.” Sirius mumbled under his breath, rubbing his face. “If this is a joke, it isn’t funny anymore, universe!”

“Wait. Don’t tell me.” Dean started, sarcastically. “You are staying here too.”

“As a matter of fact, yes.” Seren answered in an almost growl, massaging her temples.

“Bullshit.” Dean shot. “You used your… witchy-mojo to know where we stayed and are making it up.”

Seren stared at him with the best poker face her tiredness allowed her to have. After a long moment of her just observing Dean for any clue that he was actually messing with her, she rolled her eyes at him. Hard.

She strode towards the motel’s parking lot and stopped besides a moss-green van, signaling to it with a flourish, like it was the grand prize of some TV show. It definitely looked better than the last time they had saw it, but it was clear it was her van. Then, she motioned to Sirius, who flaunted their room key, following his sister’s antics.

Sam snorted as he tried to hold his laugh at Dean’s flabbergasted expression, any word he might have for a new argument completely lost.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me,” Seren started, opening the van’s front seat’s door, “I have some stuff to do before going to sleep.”

Just as she said that, a huge yawn escaped her lips.

“Maybe it would be better you caught some zees first, sis.” Sirius recommended.

Seren mocked him, sitting shotgun and opening the globe box take a carved wood box out. She opened it and put the cursed bracelet inside as another yawn made her cover her mouth. She closed the box and put a small lock on it before storing it back in the globe box and snapped it shut.

“Look at that! The big bad evil sealed at last,” Sirius celebrated trying to be funny, going besides her and leaning on the van’s door to be more at her height. “Now the great heroine can get some well deserved shut-eye.”

Dean was about to make a comment about that, but Sam stopped him, slapping his arm and giving him a warning look to behave.

“Can’t. Deadline to meet and you know it,” she signed tiredly, rubbing her eyes and getting up. “Should have stopped in the last town instead of driving all the way here. Last time I do that.”

“She said the same last time,” Sirius commented towards Sam, earning himself a playful slap up the head from her. “Maybe next time you’ll let me drive the van so you could rest a bit.”

“Yeah, sure.” Seren laughed sarcastically. “So you crash her again, right? No, thank you very much.”

“Oh, come on!” Sirius whined. “Camille's fine. It was just a scratch!”

“Camille?” Dean couldn’t help but to ask. He meant for only Sam to hear, but his voice had come louder than intended.

“Van’s name. Cute story. I’ll tell you when you stop being a douche to my sister,” was Sirius’ quick explanation before turning back to his sister. “And that happened like a year ago. It was an accident! The other car appeared out of thin air, I swear.”

“It was parked,” she deadpanned.

“There was thick mist that day,” he excused himself to the Winchesters as if they were now a jury to convince of his plight.

“Best weather I had seen in days,” she countered.

“The sun blinded me?” he winced, being caught in a tight spot.

“You were wearing those stupid sunglasses of yours,” she rolled her eyes at him.

“Faulty lenses!” he celebrated snapping his fingers with a victorious smile on his face. “Never picking a bargain again.”

Seren mocked him, repeating his last excuse with a weird voice and moving her hand like it was a mouth. Sirius’ comeback was some wild gesticulations with his arms accompanied by what could only be the girl’s reaction to the crash of her precious van. There were no distinguishable words between screeches though, so maybe it was something else completely.

Sam couldn’t help but to smile at their little scene, even Dean was holding a laugh, amused by their silly bickering. Sam had the impression it could be their way of confirming that they were in good terms even after the day’s little ordeal.

But there was something that irked him. Seren had completely overlooked her brother almost killing her in his curse influenced rage. Hadn’t even batted an eye at the knife’s proximity. Her torn jacket proof of it’s closeness. It was as if she didn’t care in the slightest. It bothered him.

An ugly snort brought Sam back from his thoughts, finding Dean’s funny face as he held his laughter, a mix of annoyance and amusement in it. Curious of it’s cause, he followed his brother’s stare, only to find Sirius holding Seren in the air by her armpits. She was glaring daggers at him while he cooed at her, making them look like a grumpy cat who just wanted to be left alone and their owner who was set to give the kitty some snuggles. Not that far from reality, now that he thought of it.

“Come on, Sirius. I have work to do.” Seren whined weakly, stifling a yawn. Her eyes were already half-closed.

“You are practically sleep-talking, sis.” he laughed, swinging her softly side to side.

“Am not,” she pouted.

Sirius looked towards the Winchester’s, giving them an amused smile motioning for his sister as if asking if she wasn’t cute when sleepy. Sam shook his head, amused, watching the girl start to nod off.

With a deep sigh, Sirius adjusted his hold on Seren and put her over his shoulder, carrying her like a bag of potatoes, eliciting a new laugh from Dean. Seren bobbed in place, whining softly as Sirius carried her to their rooms door, the one closest to where the van was parked.

“Say goodnight, sis.”

Only an unintelligible mumble came from her before Sirius closed the door with a laugh after waving the Winchesters goodbye. With a snicker and shaking their head at the siblings silliness, Dean and Sam went to their own room, calling it a day.


	6. Chapter 6 — Simple Tricks and Trinkets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Extra chapter for Valentine's Day because I love this and the people that read it.  
> Thanks for the kudos. At some point I'm gonna start begging and whining for comments, btw.

Sam found himself awake at six in the morning. Too early, even for him. No nightmare. His body well rested even if the sleep had been short. It felt… peculiar. Not bad. Not good. Just… Just kind of strange, leaving him a bit baffled.

The rustling of sheets and a creak got his attention, noticing Dean moving on the other bed. He took a side-glance and waited to see if his brother had awakened too. A soft snore and a content hum let him know that Dean was still peaceful asleep.

Sam couldn’t stay in bed much longer. He felt too awake to do so. Maybe a walk around would help him make some time. Carefully, he got up silently and went to the bathroom to take a quick shower and get dressed, making as little noise as he could so he wouldn’t wake up Dean.

Once ready, Sam went outside, stretched his arms high and cracked his neck with a satisfying pop. The morning air was cold, but no as cold as he had expected for a winter day. A shiver ran though his whole body as went down the stairs and took a look around. To his surprise, Seren’s van wasn’t on it’s spot. A dejected sigh left his lips. He had hoped a chance to speak with her in the morning, to ask a few more questions without his brother putting her on edge. She was nice, as long as Dean didn’t nag her.

He looked around in a hopeless attempt to find the van. Lucky him, he found it. It simply was in a different spot, right under a streetlamp. Glad to still have a chance to speak with Seren, it took him a while to realize the van’s back doors seemed to be open. Finding it strange, Sam decided to go have a look and make sure that everything was okay.

As he took a first step towards the van, one of the back’s doors went wide open and familiar music flowed from the inside—Metallica, Sam noted. The vehicle trembled almost imperceptible and, next moment, Seren hopped out, moving a bit to the beat and humming softly the tune. She sat on the van’s floor, one leg bent on it and the other rested on the ground. She turned to the open door, adjusted it’s angle and started scanning it, feeling for something on it with her fingertips.

He continued walking towards her, quietly in an attempt to see what she was doing exactly before she noticed him, taking advantage of having her back to him.

“Good morning, Sam.” she greeted him cheerfully without even turning around.

He startled, pausing in his advance for a moment, trying to find what had given him away and coming with nothing. He could see a satisfied little smirk on her lips at his expense. Before Sam could even ask how she knew not only that he was there but that it _was_ him, Seren signaled the window of the door she was inspecting. There was some sort of crystal chimes decoration stuck to it. He was about to ask if it was some kind of amulet when he saw it. The trick. He couldn’t help but laugh and shake his head, a bit embarrassed for not taking notice before she pointed it.

There were mirrors hidden among the colored crystals.

“The simplest tricks are the best,” she pointed, turning enough to give him a complicit wink before resuming her task.

Her brow furrowed, her eyes fixed themselves on the middle of the door where a reddish patch of rust the size of a thumb fingerprint seemed to mock her. She clicked her tongue, annoyed, glaring at the imperfection like she was trying to will it away with the power of her mind—no result, mind you. Giving up on that option, Seren reached inside the van and took out a small toolbox.

Sam came closer, to her side, trying to take a peek inside the vehicle out of pure curiosity, only to find an embroidered muslin curtain blocking his view of the interior. There was also a curtain of beads, but that one was collected out of the way on the side, behind her.

“Curiosity killed the cat,” Seren singsonged, a lopsided grin on her lips. She opened the toolbox on her lap and picked an already half used piece of sandpaper.

“But satisfaction brought it back,” Sam completed, hands in his pockets and trying to guess if it would be okay to lean on the closed back door or not.

Seren chuckled softly at his answer and the hopeful look he gave her when she turned to him, “Sorry, lad. Not enough Trust Points to unlock this area yet.” she went back to deal with the rust spot, “Nice try though. And yes, you can lean on Camille. She’s a sturdy girl.”

Sam laughed at her answer, resting his shoulder on the closed door so he could watch her sand the rust away comfortably. He had almost asked her what would he have to do to earn those points but held back the question, shaking his head dismissively. It sounded too much like something Dean would use as a pick-up line along with a charming smirk.

“I didn’t take you for a morning person.” he commented instead, remembering their first encounter at the Road House.

“And I’m not,” she admitted with a chuckle, brushing away some rust dust and chapped paint with her pinkie before blowing it away. “After two hours awake I could fool anyone.” she added more to herself than for him to hear.

Unable to make out Sam’s expression through the mirrors, she turned to him. The questioning look on his face made her sigh and roll her eyes at herself and her big mouth.

“Nightmares. You know the drill, right?” she answered with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulder before her expression turned serious. “You too?”

“Nah, not this time,” he waved off.

“Great!” she celebrated with a smile. “Lucky you.”

“Want to talk about it? Might help.” Sam offered.

“Not enough points, jolly giant.” Seren chuckled with an appreciative smile on her lips, focusing back on her work.

“Jolly giant?” Sam echoed, his tone bemused.

“You are more than a foot taller than me and your smile is adorable,” she explained, matter-of-fact, like it was so obvious. For her it was at least.

“You think my smile is adorable?” he almost stuttered, a bit flustered.

The young woman froze for a second, her eyes opened a bit wider than normal in surprise for her slip up. She gave him a tentative side glance to check if he was offended or not, finding a lopsided smile and a subtle blush. She nodded shyly in confirmation, avoiding looking at him and tucking a lock of hair behind her ear with a little huff.

“I can’t believe it,” two voices echoed.

Sam and Seren turned towards them, finding both Dean and Sirius staring at them with completely different expressions. While Dean looked fed up with the whole situation, Sirius had an amused and stupid smile plastered on his smug face.

“Were you flirting right now?” they asked to their respective sibling at the same time.

Dean side-glanced at Sirius, annoyed by their synchronicity. Sirius was too interested in his sister’s answer to even mind the older Winchester’s attitude, much less the coincidence.

“I don’t think so?” Seren answered, genuinely confused as she looked between the two of them, head tilted to a side, before turning to Sam, “Were we?”

A giggle almost escaped his lips but he was quick to cover it by clearing his throat. He answered Seren with a shrug of his shoulders and a sheepish smile.

“They totally were,” Sirius said to Dean as if it was a secret between them but not even bothering to lower his voice.

The older Winchester rolled his eyes, groaning and rubbing his face with his hands, regretting more than ever to had gotten out of bed knowing that, if he had stayed longer, he could have missed this moment altogether. Dean was about to complain to his little brother when Seren’s task got his attention.

“Lots of steamy stuff happening in there, huh?” Dean blurted out with a smirk. When his brain registered what he had just said, he grimaced, annoyed with himself.

“Steamy stuff?” Seren repeated slowly, a confused expression on her face as she looked at him. “Like what?”

Dean gave her an incredulous look, wondering if she was for real or just messing with him back. Sam suspected her confusion was genuine, confirming it when he looked at Sirius, who was containing a laugh and hiding an amused smile with his hand as he waited for his sister to understand Dean’s words. Her expression remained completely clueless as she put the sandpaper back and left the toolbox back in the van. It was like seeing someone trying to figure out an obvious riddle.

“He means ‘sex’, sis.” Sirius finally told her, shaking his head at her obliviousness.

“Oh!” she mouthed before her brows knitted together slowly, fixing Sirius with a growing stern glare. She got up from her seat, “What did you do?”

“What?! Nothing!” he negated with a panicked expression, hands up, trying to pacify her and stop her predatory advance. “I promised I wouldn’t do it again. Didn’t I?”

“Yeah, right.” her voice dripped sarcasm. She had stopped at a safe distance from him, arms akimbo. “Like you promised to never again eat my chocolates but I keep finding my stashes gone? That kind of promise?”

“I don’t think you can compare a few candies gone with catching me deep into that Maggie girl. Or when you caught me with this couple, David and Debby?” Sirius let out a laugh, looking between the Winchesters as if they were a stand-up comedy audience. “Now, that was a funny one. We three were getting to the good part when Seren—”

A snap of fingers sounded sharply and his mouth went tight shut, the rest of the sentence reduced to an unintelligible mumble. All eyes went to Seren, distress, shame and outrage all over her face as she held in a tight grasp her pendant.

“Stop reminding me of those… those situations.” Seren warned pointing an accusatory finger at her brother. “Or re-telling them to others.”

He attempted to excuse himself, even trying to pry his mouth open with his fingers so he could actually do so, but his lips were firmly closed together. Finally, he gave a curt nod, accepting defeat.

“Next time, I’ll leave you like this for a whole day. Final notice.” she warned before snapping her fingers again, freeing him. “And—” Seren turned to face Dean, who clearly disapproved of what she had just done and was ready to start an argument over it. “—for the record, he’s been like this every chance he’s had. Each and _every_ single one. He even made some on purpose! If you could shut him up like this, you would too.”

Dean looked at Sirius for confirmation of such accusation. The boy nodded reluctantly with a weak ‘yeah’ and a shrug, getting an incredulous look from both Winchesters. Dean, much to his chagrin, admitted that Seren was right: he would have done the same if he could. The punch-in-the face option to shut someone up was a classic though. One doesn’t go wrong with classics.

“I’m sure that’s considered sexual harassment.” Sam, who had walked to Seren’s side, commented with a weirded out expression directed a her brother, bringing Dean back to the conversation. Much to the older Winchester’s annoyance.

“You hear that? You are sexually harassing you own sister.” Seren threw at Sirius face, crossing her arms. “Thanks, by the way.” She added to Sam.

“Oh, look at that.” Sirius cooed, looking between the two before starting singing. “Seren and Sam sitting under a tree…”

“No, please.” Dean whined in a low groan, a headache forming. “Shut him up again, I beg you.”

“Pretty boy is asking for my witch services?” she sassed before turning to Sam, offering her arm. “Pinch me, I must be dreaming.”

Sam chuckled.

“First comes love. Then comes marriage.”

“Breakfast’s on me if you do.”

He hadn’t even finished talking and Seren had already snapped her fingers as she held her pendant, almost making her brother bit the tip of his tongue as she had cough him mid sentence.

“Now we’re talking,” she gave Dean a satisfied grin. “But if you wanted for your brother to take a good look at this little trinket of mine, all you had to do was ask nicely, pretty boy.”

Both Winchesters stiffened at being caught. Dean mouthed at his brother an incredulous ‘how’. He was sure his sign had been subtle enough to avoid catching her attention. He would swear on it. Sam simply shrugged at him before giving Seren a sheepish smile whispering a meek ‘please?’. She scoffed, shaking her head softly and holding the pendant out for him to see but not taking it off.

As they suspected, it wasn’t the silver ring she had offered as guarantee at the bar. This one was a tin crescent moon tied with a leather cord. It’s design was rugged and a bit rough on the edges. There were some faded engravings on it that seemed to continue past its border, as if it was part of a set.

“Time’s up.” Seren announced with a pop before putting the pendant away and back under her clothes. “There’s a good diner a few blocks that way.”

“Great. Let’s go.” Dean grumbled, scratching the back of his head as he took a step towards the Impala.

“In a bit,” she said, going back towards her van. “Gotta finish Camille’s beauty routine first.” Seren motioned to the door before going inside.

And Dean opened his big mouth to say nothing good.

 

* * *

 

“I warned you about badmouthing the van.” Sirius reminded him as they reached the diner. “First words I ever said to you, in fact.”

Dean had spent the whole way there ranting about Seren’s overreaction to his not-so-nice opinion of Camille and now Sirius had a bit of a headache from hearing all that whining.

“She’s too damn attached to that piece of crap,” he grumbled, getting out of the car and closing the door in time with Sam.

“Like you are one to talk, pal.” Sirius scoffed, motioning to the Impala.

“Hey!” Dean practically barked, pointing an accusatory finger at him. “Baby, isn’t junk. She’s a fine ‘67 classic in perfect working condition.”

“I’m just saying,” Sirius started, hands raised in defense. “For whatever reason I don’t care one bit, you are attached to that old muscle car, just like my sister’s attached to that rusty van you like to roast so much. So back off, pal.”

“Shouldn’t you have stayed back with Seren?” Sam asked, opening the door to the diner and going inside.

“When did you even get in the car?” Dean seemed to have just realized.

“You were too busy running from my sister’s wrath to notice me getting in, I guess.” Sirius shrugged. “And that answers both questions, by the way.”

They took a seat at one of the booths and waited for the waitress to come get their order, which turned in a somewhat competition between Dean and Sirius to see who charmed her into giving one if them her number. She simply took note with an amused smile and left.

“Didn’t you order a bit too much there?” Dean commented a bit annoyed. “And pancakes with strawberry syrup? Really?”

“Ordered for Seren too.” Sirius answered, relaxing on his seat. “The pancakes might sweeten her humor when she gets here.”

The waitress came back, putting their drinks in front of each one before setting a piece of paper right in the middle of the table, between Dean and Sirius. It had a phone number and what must have been her name, Louise. She told the boys to call her when they reached an agreement, turning around after giving them a cheeky wink.

Dean looked lost as he watched her go. With his brow furrowed he turned to Sirius, who wiggled his eyebrows at him with a suggestive lopsided smirk before puckering his lips at him. Dean drew back on reflex, eyes wide as he turned to Sam, a bit alarmed. The younger Winchester wasn’t sure if he should laugh or not, so he pressed his lips together to conceal it and simply shrugged.

“Your loss, pal.” Sirius laughed with a wink.

Dean’s eloquent response was a loud snort as he turned around to look out the window, making a face. A few minutes later the moss green van appeared in sight and parked close to the Impala. Seren came out of it, reaching the diner door with a fast pace.

“I ordered you pancakes.” Sirius told her as greeting when she got to the table.

“Strawberry syrup?” she asked, hopeful.

“You know it.”

But instead of celebrating, she whined in frustration. An emergency job had come in before she left the motel and they had to get on the move ASAP, no time for breakfast.

Seeing her urgency, Sam offered to help them.

“Sorry, jolly giant. Not your kind of job,” she said with a sad face before turning to her brother. “ _All_ _ez,_ _a_ _ll_ _ez_ _!_ ”

Sirius nodded and got up, but instead of following Seren to the door, he went to the counter and spoke with Louise, who was about to serve their order. With a loud cheerful ‘sure’, she turned to a side and took some take-out boxes and put the siblings part of the order in them. Once ready, Sirius got the bag Louise handed him and went to the van where Seren was waiting, tapping her foot impatiently. They both got in and left.

“They are finally gone” Dean celebrated with a sigh just as Louise put their plates of food on the table. “Now we can have a peaceful breakfast. No witches around.”

“You are too harsh on Seren.” Sam told him.

“And you seem to have a crush on her.” Dean said offhandedly before taking a huge bite of his burger.

Sam choked on his food, coughing loudly. When he calmed, he glared at Dean, who gave him a tight lipped smile that seemed to dare him to deny what he had said. With his cheeks full of food, he looked like some sort of smug squirrel. Sam let out resigned sigh, shaking his head as he took out his laptop so he could search for a new case while he ate.

Once Dean finished stuffing himself, they went back to the motel to get their things and get back on the road. They were ready to go when someone started persistently knocking on their door. Sam and Dean exchanged a look and a nod before the older brother went to the door, hand close to his gun, just in case. Just as he took a step towards the door, it opened, Seren standing on the other side.

“Sorry for intruding. Kind of in a hurry,” she excused herself, panting. She had her hands raised even though they didn’t took out their guns yet. “Is my brother with you?” she tried to take a good look around their room without moving from where she stood.

“Why would he be here?” Dean asked, annoyed by her attitude.

“He left with you,” she responded before insisting. “Where is he? Sam?”

“You came for him,” he answered, confused. “At the diner.”

“Of bloody course I did,” she wheezed before coughing, a pained expression on her face.

“Seren?” Sam asked, uneasy. “What’s going on?”

He tried to go closer to her, but Dean stopped him. The older Winchester stood alert, his hand hovering over his gun. Apart from his usual suspicion of the girl, there was something else this time that was bothering him. Her hair was too much of a mess; her hoodie, different than the one she was wearing when she met them at the diner; and her demeanor, a bit groggy, almost leaning on the door frame.

“It’s a… It’s a shifter. A freaking shapeshifter,” she said bitterly, running a had through her messy hair. “Knocked me out, took my van and now it has Sirius. Bloody hell!”

“How do we know you are not the shapeshifter?” Dean was quick to ask.

Expecting an annoyed eye roll and some snarky comment to shut him up, he was surprised—and a bit unsettled—when she did none of those. As quick as she could, but without sudden movements in case the hunter took it as a threat, she dug around the neck of her shirt until her picked a chain. She fished along it and picked the silver ring with her fingers, skin to metal, and showed it to them. She then raised her other arm and shook it, making the charm bracelet she was wearing on it tinkle, effectively catching their attention. The chains seemed to be silver too, along some of the charms.

“Silver knife’s in the van,” she grimaced, a bit apologetic.

She knew that, even if touching silver could count as proof, it might not be good enough for the hunters. Wouldn’t be the first time a shapeshifter took the silver jewels of the person they were impersonating and covered it with a thick coating of clear nail polish so they could touch it without giving themselves away. Now it was for the Winchesters to decide how to proceed.

The boys exchanged a look. Sam thought to be proof enough she was the real Seren. But Dean shook his head no and went to one of his duffel bags to retrieve a silver knife to test her with.

“My brother and my van are in the hands of a shapeshifter wearing my face. Would you mind hurrying a bit, pretty boy?”

That was more like her, Dean thought to himself with a tight smile.

Seren stood completely still as he got to her, held her arm tightly and made a cut on it, over the bracelet. Dean had went for a small nick, but it turned into a bigger cut than he intended. Seren hissed in pain but that was all, no protest nor sarcastic comment about him overdoing it. She wasn’t even looking at him, just holding still like a statue.

“Clear,” Dean confirmed going back to his bag and picking it up. “Got a plan?”

Seren gave him a confused look, not understanding why he was asking her or why he even cared if she had a rescue plan or not. She turned to Sam in search of an explanation for his brother’s question.

“We are going with you,” he assured her with a nod, fetching his own bag. “We’ll get Sirius back. Safe and sound.”

Sam swore that, for a second, his word brought a vulnerable gleam to her eyes. A mix between unsure and moved that made him want to comfort her.

“That’s _our_ job, after all.” Dean remarked as he went past her, sending a little smug smirk her way. “Saving people, hunting things.”

“The family business.” Sam completed, following him.

They both heard her huff a laugh before going after them.


	7. Chapter 7 —  Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Shot

“Mind explaining me how do you know where to go, princess?” Dean grumbled behind the wheel.

He had been driving, following her directions blindly, taking them to the outskirt of town. Dean felt that she was making them go in circles around the residential area, putting him a bit on edge. Shouldn’t she be more worried about her brother and hurry up to find him?

“I didn’t tell you the first time you asked, what makes you think I’ll do it now? And stop calling me that!” Seren snapped, as annoyed as him for all the detours. “Second… Wait. Yes, second to the right.” Her tracking felt off, distorted, like someone was playing with a magnet near her compass.

The shapeshifter must have tampered with the spell that linked her van with one of her charms to buy itself some extra time. Their ability to copy memories along with appearance was absurdly annoying. Didn’t matter what one had prepared as a contingency plan for emergencies. Once the shapeshifter got your appearance, it knew too, and you were done for.

“It just seems too convenient. Don’t you think?” Dean sent her a narrowed look through the rear-view mirror.

“Look, you were the one that offered to ‘do your job’ and help me safe Sirius,” she reminded him. “If you don’t like it my way or think I’m leading you to some sort of trap, I can continue on my own.”

“Yeah, like you’ll have much of a chance if we don’t tag along.” Dean laughed before adding, sardonic. “Are you gonna kill it with your jewelry? And how do you plan to catch up with them, for starters. Running? With your short legs?”

“First of all, pretty boy, my legs are perfectly proportional to my body.” she said motioning for them. “In fact, I’ve been told they are a bit larger than they should to be so.”

Sam held laugh at how offended she was at the jab. It was cute.

“And second,” she continued, “I’m no idiot. I would have borrowed a car.”

“Borrow a car?” Dean asked with a raised eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yeah, really.” she confirmed, head high.

Sam turned around to give her an incredulous look, waiting for her to elaborate on that option. Catching his eyes on her, she lowered her head and looked away. She squirmed on her seat, suddenly uncomfortable.

“You know. ‘Borrow’,” she admitted reluctantly, marking the quotation. “Turn left on the next crossroad. And can’t you go a bit faster?”

“If you want someone to call the cops on us for breaking speed limitation on a residential area, sure.” Dean saw her looking at him expectantly. “NO.”

Seren let out a frustrated groan, throwing herself back on the back seat like a petulant child. She started combing her hair with her fingers, looking outside the window, braiding it absentmindedly in an attempt to keep herself from fidgeting and feel like she was doing something. But her feet started tapping on the floor to a tune Sam tried to identify and Dean, to ignore.

The older Winchester could understand her angstiness though. S.O.B. driving her car around and about to potentially murder her brother while wearing her face. Thinking about it, he made Baby go faster without forgetting to pay extra attention for reckless passerby jaywalking.

“We should be close by now,” Seren mumbled. “Just… Just a moment.”

Sam gave her a side-glance. She had her eyes closed, a small frown on her face that seemed to twitch in concentration. He was about to ask what she was doing, reminding himself to do so kindly so she wouldn’t get on the defensive, when she doubled up with a jolt.

He called for her, reaching behind to try to comfort her but Seren jerked away from his hand. Her skin had gone pale, her eyes were wide open with sudden urgency, and she held her shoulder as if she had hurt it somehow, massaging it softly to rub away the pain. Seren’s expression had turned tense, with a deep frown. Her eyes fixed on her boots, shining bright with anger.

“Turn left,” Seren snapped urgently. “Dean, turn left. Right now!”

“I ca–I can’t,” he responded frantic, infected by the anxiousness coming from her. “There’s a park!”

“Just bloody cross it.” Seren practically hissed, “Come on!”

“It’s fenced!” Dean pointed out with a wave of his arm.

“There’s people!” Sam added, with a look to his brother. ‘The fence is a no but running over people was okay?’, kind of look.

“Bloody hell!” Seren cursed loudly, hitting the front seat to which Dean barked a protest.

Before any of the brothers had time to ask what was going on exactly, Seren had opened the door to the left side after making sure no car came from the opposite direction. She jumped out, rolled a few times before getting up and sprinted across the park, ignoring the curious looks people gave her and the suspicious ones they sent to the Winchesters due her hasty escape.

“You could have simply told me to stop, you crazy witch!” Dean shouted even though she couldn’t hear him. “Showoff,” he mumbled to himself.

Sam chuckled, hiding it with a cough. He knew that Dean wouldn’t admit that Seren’s little stunt had been awesome. Unnecessary, sure, but awesome nonetheless.

Dean parked on a side and got out of the car, closing with a huff both his door and the one Seren had left open in her haste. Without losing more time, they followed the last order the woman gave them: cross the park.

That’s how they arrived to the most inconspicuous, normal house they could find. Lawn would need a mow soon but looked cared for. Some flowers bordering the front porch, an attempt to brighten it when what it needed was a good coat of paint. All the curtains were closed but the front door was wide open. The only indication they had that was the house Seren had stormed to, was her beloved van parked right in front of it, like it belonged there.

They went to the door, taking a cautious peek inside before going in. A ruckus came from the floor below—crashes and thumps and some unintelligible shouts. Sam and Dean found the door to the basement open and went down the stairs, guns loaded with silver bullets drawn out, ready for anything.

“I’m gonna erase that stupid smile from your stupid face!”

A loud crash followed those words as they saw Seren throw Seren against a vitrine with some rugby memorabilia, shattering it and making some of its content fall and break.

“That bloody hurt, you witch!” the one that had been thrown shouted back, getting up and tackling the other.

They both went down, one straddling the other, and the one on top started punching the other, who quickly blocked all of them with her arms even if she couldn’t counterattack.

“That was the freaking point!” the one being punched retorted, making them roll and reversing positions. She only landed a pair of punches before they rolled again.

“Glad you could make it, pals.” The brothers heard Sirius greet them. “What took you so long?

He was close to the end of the stairs, right on the opposite side of the room to where the girls were fighting. He was lying on the floor, his back against the wall and a shoulder resting on a sofa kept him in a sitting position. A bad cut on his eyebrow bled all over his swelled-closed eye. He was holding his left shoulder where he had been stabbed with a letter opener. How they knew it was a letter opener wound? It was still stuck in his shoulder.

“Would you mind stopping them?” Sirius asked them before adding with a grimace and wincing in pain. “Wouldn’t like to see my sister kill herself.”

Dean nodded and took aim, waiting for the right moment to shoot the shapeshifter. Just when he believed to have a chance at distinguish which one was the real one through her hoodie, he realized none of them were wearing one. He cursed.

“They took them off after using them to block each others vision by flipping it over their heads.” Sirius sighed. “First one and the other copied the move after.”

“Of course,” Dean rolled his eyes. He aimed his gun at them, “Both of you, stay still and hands were I can see them!”

Both Serens came to a short stop, one about to deliver a punch while the other opted for a sweeping kick. When they saw the two guns pointed at both of them, they moved slowly to a standing position with her hands raised to shoulder level.

“One wrong move and you get a bullet,” Dean warned. “Show me your bracelet.”

They moved as if they were mirror reflection, their hands signaling for something in the middle of the room. There was the bracelet, between other things, on the floor.

“Clasp broke,” they explained in sync, matching apologetic expressions on their faces.

“And the seal ring?” Sam asked.

Both fished under their maroon long-sleeved shirt, producing what, from that distance looked like identical seal rings. They took a look a the other, waiting to see what they had done. Two pairs of eyes widened in surprise before scowling, livid at the double’s gall.

“That’s a fake!” both accused.

“Please, stop doing that.” Dean complained tired of the whole situation.

“What now, pretty boy?” the Seren on the right taunted. “Any great idea?”

“Eenie, meenie, miney, shot?” offered the one on the left, quirking an eyebrow at him.

“Roll your sleeves,” he instructed, hoping against all odds it worked. “Both arms.”

They did so obediently and without protest.

No use. Whichever was the shapeshifter, it had the foresight of updating their appearance to match the real one as both of them had the cut he had made at the motel and the nick she had made before testing Lucy.

“Come on, pretty boy. Aren’t you supposed to be the expert here?” huffed the one on the left. “Just get over it and test us again. Easiest solution ever.”

“Yeah, sure.” scoffed the one on the right. “Get close to the monster with a weapon and see how that ends. Pretty sure it will be dumb enough to pass the chance of go killing. Or better, get a hostage.”

“Any suggestions? Because I might end up shooting both.” Dean grumbled.

“It’s not that hard, lads.” they were doing the sync thing again, shaking their heads before tapping their left temple with their index and middle fingers. “You just have to _think_.”

Something changed then, only for a second. A momentary illusion maybe, Dean wasn’t sure but, just as the Seren on the left tapped her temple three times, something flickered there. It lasted a blink. One moment there, gone the next. What the—

“The one on the right!” Sirius shouted, cutting his trail of thought. “Shoot the one on the right!”

The Winchester were unable to react in time. In a blur of movement, the shapeshifter went for the real Seren, twisting one of her arms at her back, putting her between the brothers and itself, using her as human shield.

“You are such a killjoy,” the shapeshifter complained with a pout. “I thought we were having fun!”

“Oh,” Seren stretched softly in recognition. “You were the jerk form the bar. Bit resentful, aren’t we?”

“Don’t waste your little parlor tricks with me, witch.” It hissed before a creepy smile broke its face as it looked at the Winchesters. “Maybe you should use them again on the big guy. Tell him about the night his girlfriend died perhaps? I’m sure he would find that info really interesting.”

A silver flash flung past it’s head and a letter opener stabbed itself on what was left of the vitrine. Sirius stepped between Sam and Dean, facing the shapeshifter with fury in his eyes.

“Shut your mouth, you bastard.” he growled. Seren exclaimed in protest at the term. “You have no idea what you are talking about.”

“The little brother in defense of his big sis. How sweet,” the shapeshifter mocked. “Do you really believe she can save you? Even after she—”

Seren headbutted it, hard. It let go of her as it stumbled back, nose visibly broken, blood gushing down its face. Enraged, it produced the moon pendant from under its clothes. Sam and Dean took aim.

“Let’s see who’s faster,” it taunted.

Fingers snapped. Two shots echoed in the basement. A body hit the floor.

All eyes fixed on the fake Seren, lying on the ground. Her fist closed around the pendant. Two bullet holes on her chest, right where her heart was. Blood flowed from them, darkening her shirt, as her body convulsed before exhaling a death rattle.

Seren made to move towards it. She seemed transfixed on it, observing intently her double, now dead on the ground, with an expression void of any emotion. Dean stopped her with a shout, gun aimed at her. He called for a silver test. She merely nodded, absentmindedly, her eyes still on the dead body and her hands raised on reflex.

A loud and sharp whistle resounded, startling Seren out of her thoughts and making her turn her attention on Sirius.

“Think fast,” he told her, before making a motion with his head.

A silver flash darted towards her. She moved one of her raised hands just enough to intercept it and made a fist around the object, catching it mid-air without trouble. It was her bracelet. She showed how her skin was touching the silver, not just her leather gloves, giving the Winchester a questioning look.

“Good enough,” Dean admitted, him and Sam putting away their guns.

“Didn’t think so at the motel,” Seren muttered, inspecting the bracelet with a little frown before putting it in her jean’s pocket. She turned and pointed a finger at Sirius. “And I told you to don’t use your powers to pass me things. Emergencies only. Remember?”

Sirius stuck out his tongue innocently and gave her a wink as in ‘oops, I’m so clumsy but still cute’. She shook her head with a tired sigh, rubbing her temple.

Sam went to kneel besides the dead shapeshifter, prying its fist open to retrieve Seren’s moon pendant. The monster had had such a vicious grip on it that the blunt edges of the pendant had dug into its skin, staining it with blood.

“It didn’t do anything,” Sam wondered out loud, inspecting the jewel, before turning to Seren. “Why didn’t it work?”

“Because only I can use it,” she answered, eyes on the pendant but making no motion to get it back. “Poor fool didn’t go back enough in my memories to know, I suppose.”

“And how did you know which one was the shapeshifter?” Sam directed to Sirius, visibly impressed.

“As my sister said: Eenie, meenie, miney, shot.” the boy laughed, picking the pendant from his hand. He cleaned the blood from it with his sleeve before handing it back to Seren.

Sam was bewildered. And worried.

“For the record, he’s messing with you,” Seren assured the younger Winchester as she fastened the pendant around her neck and tucked it under her shirt. “The tapping,” she added.

She repeated the gesture but nothing changed nor flashed this time, Dean noted. He wanted to ask what that had been, not believing for it to had been just his imagination, but he was sure she would avoid the question or simply refuse to answer it, so why bother.

Sam simply guessed the shapeshifter had made some sort of minor mistake that had made the difference.

“What did it mean by ‘using your little parlor trick’ on Sam before?” Dean asked with a frown, crossing his arms.

“It was just trying to mess with you, obviously.” Sirius dismissed before hissing as Seren inspected his wounds.

“It mentioned Jessica’s death too,” Sam murmured with a slightly hurt look in his eyes. “Seren?”

“Don’t stress over it, pal.” Sirius laughed shakily. It was clear there was something there he didn’t want them to know. “It was—”

“Sirius,” Seren called softly. Once he looked at her, she gave him a stern look and shook her head. He nodded and let out a resigned sigh as she turned to the Winchesters. “I’ll answer your questions later, lads. First things first. Let’s clean this mess and get out of here.”

Sam and Dean exchanged a look before nodding at her proposal, the former less reluctantly than the last. Seren instructed them to take the shapeshifters’ body to the bathroom on the second floor while she would patch Sirius in the kitchen. Dean started grumbling, complaining for having to do the heavy work while she played nurse. Sam sighed before telling his brother it might be best to roll the corpse in the carpet so they could move it without risking to shred its skin.

“Good thinking,” Dean nodded, not wanting to deal with having to clean that after, too.

Once they where done with their task, the brothers went to meet the others, following Sirius’ complains and whining about Seren’s nursing abilities. She had put one of the hoodies on and tied the other to her waist. Her brother had cleaned up the blood and had a butterfly bandage keeping his eyebrow wound closed. Seren was working on stitching his shoulder with what seemed to be dental floss and some alcohol she had found around.

“You are the one refusing to go to the hospital.” Seren scolded. “Stay still, would you? I’m almost finished.”

“I’m quite sure a butterfly bandage would be more than enough for a letter opener wound,” Sirius assured her before hissing as she gave him a last stitch.

“That would have been the case if you hadn’t ripped it off to throw it to the shapeshifter,” she sassed, spraying some disinfectant on the wound before bandaging it and patting it not too gently. “All done.”

“Body’s in the tub,” Dean informed, effectively cutting their bickering.

Seren gave them an expectant look, waiting for them to add something more. Seeing as she only got confused looks from the Winchesters, she simply nodded to herself with a sigh and left the kitchen, telling Sirius to start the clean up. Sam and Dean exchanged a look. The younger Winchester made to follow her but Dean reacted faster, going after her. There was no way he would let them be alone and out of his sight.

Dean heard her steps on the floor above. He went upstairs, finding Seren peeking into the rooms. She skipped the bathroom where they left the shapeshifter’s body, leaving him puzzled. Dean said nothing and waited. Seren kept doing that until she found the one she was looking for and went inside. Dean was fast to trail behind.

Another bathroom. The air in it stank of rot and chemicals, catching Dean by surprise, forcing him to hold in a gag response and cover his mouth and nose. Seren was going through the cabinet under the sink, almost holding her breath with a disgusted grimace.

Not without taking a huge breath of clean air before going in, Dean went to check what was causing such stink. In the bathtub there was the body of what had been a man, left to rot in what seemed to be lye. Dean cursed.

“Pretty boy,” Seren called for him, her arms carrying as many bottles of lye as she could. She nodded to another two bottles at her feet. “Bit of help?”

Why was there so much lye to begin with?

Dean was about to ask just that when he realized Seren had left him behind. He picked the bottles and left the bathroom, closing the door behind him so the odor wouldn’t go around the house. He saw Seren go into the other bathroom, the one where he and Sam had left the shapeshifter’s body. Swiftly, Seren knelt beside the tub and started emptying the lye in it. Dean left the bottles on the floor close to her and watched her work, arms crossed as he leaned on the sink.

“That guy back there—”

“Later,” Seren cut him, brow furrowed and face slightly turned away in disgust.

“No. Now.” Dean’s tone left no place for discussion. “Saw the photos in the basement. He’s that jerk from yesterday, right? At the bar?”

“Are you accusing me of something?” Dean gave her a stern look. She tilted her head first to a side and then to the other as she answered, “Yes and no.”

“Wha—” he shook his head disoriented and annoyed, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I hustled the bloody shapeshifter that was posing as him, pretty boy.” Seren swore, scowling at him as she squished the bottle in her hands. “Now, I would like to finish this, quietly, and get out out here ASAP. Sounds good?”

“Fine,” Dean grumbled, but he didn’t get the ‘quiet’ part as he added, “I don’t think you are gonna get rid of a body with just that.”

“I just need it to look less like me, pretty boy.” She picked the last two bottles and emptied them at once. Why she hadn’t done so before was beyond them. “And, this way, we make it seem like both bodies were left to rot by the same killer. Time span between the two deaths will seem circumstantial during the investigation, as in one was already home and the other arrived later kinda thing.”

Dean gave her an appreciative look for a second, but she was too concentrated, scowling at her task, to notice.

After the last drop fell, she adjusted the body, making sure the face and hands where in the lye. Then, she opened the tap to fill the bathtub enough for most of the body to be submerged. Once it was done, she took a look around and picked a pair of small towels. She threw one to Dean, telling him to clean his fingerprints just as she started doing so. The hunter huffed, offended that she thought he would make such a rookie mistake.

Once they were done, Dean and Seren went back down the stairs finding their brothers waiting for them in the living room. Each pair of siblings would leave the house, get on their respective vehicles and leave town. They would take different routes for good measure before meeting back at the Roadhouse, much to Dean’s annoyance. He just wanted for Seren to answer their questions and to never see them again if he had any saying on that.

Dean and Sirius sealed the agreement with a handshake, Sirius’ grip tighter than needed. The older Winchester held his stare, returning the favor. Seren had to take her brother by the back of his collar and drag him away towards the door for them to finally let go of each other's hand and get on the move. Sam snickered, shaking his head when he saw Sirius and Dean exchanging the ‘I’m watching you’ gesture. Seren let out a tired sigh as she got in her van, closing the door and resting her head on the wheel until Sirius got in too.

It seems the boys weren’t listening when she had said they had to get out of there ASAP.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last minute edits safe lives, kids.  
> ...or at least some.


	8. Chapter 8 — Ask Away

“And her stupid van isn’t here. What a surprise!” Dean celebrated sardonically as he motioned at the empty parking space in front of the Roadhouse, showing it to Sam.

“We didn’t exactly set a time to meet, Dean.” Sam pointed out as they walked to the door. “Maybe Seren took a longer route. Maybe they had to make more stops than us. Maybe—”

“Stop making up excuses for her, Sammy.” Dean cut him with a huff as he opened the door. “I’m telling you, she ditched us.”

“Or,” Seren’s irritated voice came from inside. “Maybe, she arrived before you.” A dart hit the board. Bulls-eye. “Parked her ‘stupid van’ in the back.” Another one. “And has been waiting for an hour for you to get here.” And another one.

Dean’s dumbfounded expression was priceless. A satisfied smile ghosted Seren’s lips when she noted some embarrassment in there too as she walked towards the bar. Sirius laughed openly before smiling into his beer to take a drink while Ellen snickered, shaking her head as she cleaned the counter.

Sam patted his brother’s shoulder when he passed him and greeted the group, leaving a stuck Dean there until he recovered. Seren greeted Sam back, saluting him with two fingers after taking a sip from her orange soda. Sirius raised his beer bottle at him.

Ellen placed two beers on the bar for the boys before telling them all she was going to put some order on the back room, and to call for her if they needed anything. Sam thanked her and took the beers, handing one to his brother who had finally approached them.

Seren had gone towards a secluded table even if there was no one else around but them. Sirius got up from his seat at the bar with an _alehop_ and followed her, motioning for the Winchesters to join them.

“Let’s get to business,” Seren sighed, fingers drumming on her bottle as she held it with both hands. “Ask away.”

“The ‘little parlor trick’ you used on Sam,” Dean reminded. “What’s that about?”

“Straight to the point, I see.” Seren muttered, biting her lower lip. “It’s my… That’s… Um…” She took a breath in before breathing out, “It’s one of my abilities.”

“Explain,” Dean demanded, narrowing his eyes at her.

“Dude, chill.” Sirius warned, sending Dean a look as he took a sip of his beer. “If I have to be a snitch and tell Ellen you are being a bully, I will.”

“I get glimpses of people’s mind when I touch them.” Seren answered quickly, matter-of-fact, before fixing her eyes on Sam. “I was careless. I made a mistake. I’m sorry.”

“Oh, please! Stop being so hard on yourself, sis.” Sirius complained, patting her shoulder before shaking her in an attempt to cheer her up. “Think. If you hadn’t seen his vision, you wouldn’t have reached me in time to save Lucy. More good than bad done.” Sirius sent a hard look at Dean. “Right?”

Dean’s answer was to look away and let out a frustrated growl, unable to go against that point. He took a gulp of his beer to wash away the bad taste it left in his mouth.

“Seems like a useful ability,” Sam leaned forward slightly, eyes shining with interest. “Good for getting information.”

“Yeah… No. Not at all.” Seren shook her head vehemently with a dry chuckle and a tired smile. “You see, with casual contact, let’s say, a handshake, I only get something like a whisper. Too shallow and faint to get anything useful.”

“For something substantial, she has to get kinda handsy. For a better word.” Sirius laughed. “The longer the contact and the closer to the head, the better. Wasn’t it?” he added, looking at her.

Seren gave a firm nod in confirmation, biting her lip, before taking a gulp of her orange juice. It looked more like she was having shots. She wished she was having them, at least.

“And about the night Jessica died?” Sam asked softly, feeling a bit nervous about what they might have to say.

“Okay, long story short,” Sirius started, elbows on the table as he gesticulated the sequence. “My flat’s plumbing busted, some friends let me crash at theirs. Which means,” he remarks, making a gesture at Dean to wait for it, that he was getting to a point not just babbling. Dean narrowed his eyes at him but remained quiet. “I was staying in the flat right over yours, Sam.”

Sirius waited for the Winchesters to assimilate the new piece of information he had just delivered and didn’t resume the telling until both of them nodded for him to do so. Seren remained quiet, scratching the soda’s label, brow furrowed, glaring at it.

“The day of the fire, few hours before it even started, Seren stormed in and started packing my stuff, saying something felt wrong and we had to leave right that instant.” He made sure to stress the last part, staring between the two brothers to make his point crystal clear. “We were long gone when it happened. Learned about her death from the news the next day.”

Seren got up from the chair without warning. She excused herself, saying she was going to get another soda from behind the bar. Dean was about to tell her to sit back down when Sirius stopped him with a shush. The boy leaned over the table, looking over at his sister discreetly, so make sure she wasn’t looking.

“Look, pals. There hasn’t been a single day my sister doesn’t blame herself for Jess’ death,” Sirius confided them in a whisper. “For running away instead of looking further into her hunch and all that kinda guilt stuff.”

“Why are you telling us this?” Dean whispered back, a bit exasperated.

“Because she doesn’t need your constant accusations to boost her guilt even more,” Sirius sneered at him, then turned to Sam. “Be honest with me. Jess’ death. It was Yellow Eyes’ doing, right?” Sam nodded. “Let’s say my sister had warded the place. Against anything and everything. Do you really think it would have worked? That it would have kept him away?”

Dean huffed, crossing his arms and lying back on his seat, mumbling something the other two didn’t bother to get. Sam closed his eyes, relieving his own guilt for ignoring his visions that warned him of Jessica’s death.

Maybe, if he and Dean had gotten back sooner that day, he would had crossed paths with Sirius and Seren as they left. Maybe he would have bumped into them and greeted each other. Maybe Seren would be too distracted or shaken to notice in time she had shaken his hands in her haste. Maybe the handshake would have been long enough for her to get a glimpse of his vision and she would realize that that was the danger she felt looming. Maybe…

Maybe those were too many maybes to dwell on.

Anyway, even if Sam didn’t know how much power Seren’s wards could have, he ventured that Sirius was right. It wouldn’t have been enough to keep Yellow Eyes at bay that dreaded night.

Sam was about to articulate that thought, when a crash came from the bar. The three at the table turned to see what had happened, finding Seren standing behind the counter, stiff mid motion, face expressionless, blank, and eyes lost looking nowhere. Some color had drained from her face.

Swiftly and with a muttered curse, Sirius bolted from his seat and hurried there.

 

* * *

 

She could see it. His mind. Sam’s mind. Wide open. It shouldn’t be like this. Minds never were. Always guarded. Glimpses through the cracks. Pieces left for her to put together. But his was. Everything on display, ready for her to see. The memories. The visions. All of them. Not fragments. All tied. Linked.

A flying knife, a crying girl. Death whispers. Another flying knife, a woman this time. Probable possible deaths. Special children behind all of them.

And then, the woman. Young. Blond. Jessica. Stuck to the ceiling. Bloodied gown. The fire starts. No screams as the flames engulf her form. She’s already gone.

Another room. No, a hallway. A spark on the floor. A flame. It flickers for a moment and then, it bursts. The flame becomes a raging fire. It grows, grows, grows and grows.

So much fire. It’s everywhere. Everything’s burning. It’s hot. Too hot. It’s coming closer, but she can’t move. Her legs won’t respond. She’s paralyzed. She’s trembling. She’s—

— _scared. I’m so scared. Dad—Jethro’s hurt. The baby’s crying. Where’s mom? Mom? Please, mom, I’m scared!_

There’s a man. _Seems_ a man. He’s something dark and twisted. Never saw him before. He’s the one that starts the fire. Calls the first spark with a snap of his fingers. He smiles at her. Wicked. Crooked. Says something but she can’t make out the words. Then, he vanishes. She doesn’t like him. He hurt Jethro. He was in the baby’s room, Sirius’ room. She doesn’t like how he looked into the crib. Bright yellow eyes shinning in the dark.

 

* * *

 

“Seren?”

Her eyes were wide open, dry and stinging. She blinked a few times to moisten them. Someone was right in front of her. The first instinct that came to her was to throw a punch to the nose and get away as fast as she could. Just before she turned that thought into action, hands already clenched into fists, she recognized the person in front of her and her fists went loose.

It was Sirius, hunched so their faces where at the same height. His lips were pressed in a firm line, practically hidden under his beard even if he kept it short. His dark eyes were fixed on her face, on her eyes, searching for any reaction. His bushy eyebrows were knit together in a worried frown. It took Seren a bit more to feel his hands holding her shoulders firmly, a slight tremble on his fingers.

“I’m here,” she wanted to say clearly, but it came out as a breathy, shaky whisper. She was the one trembling, not Sirius. “You’re gonna get wrinkles,” she pointed to his frown, rubbing it with her knuckle as if to erase them.

She made sure only the glove touched his skin.

Her brother sighed in relieve as a little smile appeared on his lips. He patted her shoulder with one hand softly before taking hold of her again and shaking her playfully, chuckling. She just let him.

“And who’s fault is that?” Sirius shook her a bit harder, her head moving back and forth like a rag doll. She heard the almost imperceptible shake in his voice.

Seren tried to take a look around, assessing the situation at hand. She and Sirius were behind the bar, a broken bottle of soda at their feet. She would have to clean that. Fortunately, it had been an empty one so it was only glass.

At the other side of the bar were the Winchesters. How much had they seen? Taking into account Sam’s concerned look even as he smiled at their antics and Dean’s narrowed eyes fixed on her, it had been enough. Just perfect.

“My anti-aging treatments will be on you, sis.” Sirius sentenced with a grin, finally letting her go.

She was a little dizzy from all the shaking. With wobbly, careful movements, she supported herself on the counter to avoid loosing balance and falling to the floor. Closing her eyes so her surroundings stopped moving for a moment, Seren asked Sirius to go get the broom and the dustpan. He saluted her with a mischievous smile before he practically howled Ellen’s name as loud as he could and asked her, in the same fashion, where the items were. Seren shook her head with a sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose even if the corner of her lips had curved in a half-smile.

“So,” Seren coughed softly to clear her throat as she looked at the Winchesters. “Anymore questions, lads?”

“What was that?” Dean spoke, gesturing to her general direction. Seren was surprised he had waited to be cued or that he sounded so calm and collected, instead of his usual accusing tone.

“Lack of sleep.” A half truth. She squatted and started to pick up the big shards of glass. “One last question.”

“What did you break this time?”

Ellen appeared, carrying the broom and dustpan with her, her mouth slightly twisted. Seren got up and went to meet her halfway, throwing out the glass as she passed the trash can.

“Just an empty bottle,” she answered the woman, extending her hands to take the broom and dustpan form her. “I’ll clean it right away, ma’am.”

“Low sugar?” Ellen scanned her, trying to guess if she was right before Seren answered. “Want some candy?”

“Oh, Ellen. That question offends me!” Seren laughed, sweeping not only the broken bottle but all the floor behind the counter, now that she was at it. “Do you really have to ask?”

“I wouldn’t get sassy with the person providing the sweets, young lady,” Ellen warned her with a smile, chin high and jutting her hip to a side.

“And I wouldn’t let Sirius alone and unsupervised in the back room for so long,” Seren returned, raising an eyebrow at the woman and side-glancing in that direction.

As if called, the loud noise of things falling could be heard followed by Sirius fretted cursing before another sequence of thumps and bumps. Eyes wide and with a curse of her own, Ellen hurried to go see what havoc the boy had caused.

“Will your brother be okay?” Sam asked with a nervous smile, flinching slightly when more loud noises and Ellen’s angry shouts came from the back room.

“Is that your last question?” Seren stopped sweeping to rest her chin on the broom as she looked at Sam with a roguish smile. It went away when she saw the warning look Dean was giving her. She rolled her eyes at him, “He’ll be fine. It can’t be worst than that time he broke the beer tap. At least, I hope so.”

Both Winchesters laughed, a bit incredulous, and Dean making sure to turn away so Seren wouldn’t notice. She did anyway, he wasn’t precisely discreet. She resumed sweeping.

“Why don’t you fight demons?” Sam asked.

“You already asked.”

“But you didn’t answer,” Sam pointed and, after a kinda awkward pause, asked almost meekly, “Not enough Trust Points?”

Seren laughed at that, “Don’t worry. Helping me rescue Sirius gave you more than enough points,” she paused, looking between the brothers and trying to guess how much would be wise to share. “I made a deal.”

“I knew it!” Dean jumped from his seat pointing a finger at her as if he had discovered the real killer of some thriller movie.

“Not that kind of deal, pretty boy.” she sighed. “It’s more of a neutrality pact.”

“A neutrality pact?” Sam echoed, turning in his seat as she kept sweeping.

“Of sorts,” she nodded. “Basically, I don’t mess with them, they don’t mess with mine. Perhaps it’s more of a coexistence accord.”

“Sellout.” Dean scoffed, scowling at her.

“So?” she shrugged and Dean shook his head and raised his arms, annoyed.

“But Yellow Eyes is after Sirius,” Sam pointed out.

“I know,” she frowned.

John had already told her and, that day, she wanted to curse and scream until her throat hurt. But that would have worried Sirius, so she had kept it in. Breath in, breath out and keep moving, even though she was at an impasse. There was no way she would stay sitting on her thumbs when her brother was in danger, but she couldn’t go after the demon that threatened his life either. If she did, the contract would be void and she didn’t want to even imagine the consequences that could bring. Her only option was to look after Sirius and wait.

Truth be told, she had hoped for John to eliminate the demon, for him to get his revenge, to be the hero and safe the day. But John was gone. That stupid stubborn fool. Calling her, not to ask for help even if she was already on her way to the hospital, but to tell her she might have to kill Sirius if it got to the worst case scenario, between other things she didn’t want to know. She had gone livid. That call was his goodbye. She had told him to don’t do anything stupid or reckless, that she would get there in time. But he never listened and she had been too late. John had made his deal and there was nothing she could do to help anymore.

Now she had to rely on Sam and Dean to get rid of the demon. Best case scenario, they did so on their own and before anything could happen to Sirius. Low chances for that to happen, she knew, but still a possible outcome. Second best, Yellow Eyes would make one wrong move and break the contract, nothing fatal, and then she could openly fight him along the Winchesters without demonic backlash. Seren felt like that option was even less likely than the best case, and all the other cases weren’t near as optimistic. She preferred to avoid even thinking about them.

“I already told you,” she sighed, collecting the glass and dirt she had swept with the dustpan. “My hands are tied.”

“They look free to me.”

“You are so funny, pretty boy.” Seren laughed sardonically.

“I see you are getting along,” Ellen joined, taking a seat at the bar. She put a candy on the counter.

Swiftly, Seren went to pick it and Ellen moved to block her arm. But Seren’s attempt had been a feint and, after fooling the woman, picked the sweet with her other hand in a blink before Ellen could react.

With a triumphant grin, Seren unwrapped the candy slowly and noisily before popping it in her mouth, humming in delight. Ellen huffed a laugh as she shook her head, producing a handful of candy from one of her pockets and left it on the counter.

“Where’s my brother?” Seren asked before putting another candy into her mouth.

“Cleaning the mess he made,” Ellen stated firmly, crossing her arms as she glared in the back room’s direction.

“Unsupervised,” the girl noted with a smirk. She picked another candy and unwrapped it.

Ellen gave her a wide-eyed look, warning her to don’t call disaster again. Seren laughed, popping the third piece of candy in her mouth before stretching her arms over her head.

“You lads need anything else from little old me?” Seren asked the Winchesters with a theatrical flourish. “Frankly, our little _rendez-vous_ feels… kind of eternal.”

“No kidding,” Dean muttered.

“We’re good,” Sam assured her with a smile. “Just be careful and call if anything happens. Okay?”

“Right back at you lad,” Seren smiled back as she seized the candies from the counter and distributed them between the pockets her clothes had.

“We’ll menage,” Dean grumbled, earning a warning nudge from Sam to be nice.

“Never doubted it, pretty boy.” Seren dismissed, waving her hand at him. “Gonna see what Techie is up to.”

“Techie?” Dean almost grimaced.

“She means Ash,” Ellen clarified.

Both Winchester nodded before their heads snapped up when they realized she had gone to Ash’s room. They exchanged a look: Sam, alarmed that Seren didn’t know about the boy’s nudist habits; and Dean, with a huge amused grin on his face at the same idea. Both got up and went after her, the former to warn her and the later expecting a few laughs.

Seren was already in front of Ash’s door, waiting for him to answer, balancing herself idly on the balls of her feet.

Before Sam could warn her about Ash’s lack of clothing habit when in his room, the door opened and Ash’s head pocked outside, “Just in time. Come in.”

And in she went, the door closing behind her, leaving both Winchesters more than a bit bewildered by her complete lack of reaction.

“She’s been around here years before you, boys.” Ellen laughed at their expressions when they were back. “I think she was surprised the first time and only for a second.”


	9. Chapter 9 — Humbleness Dose with a Side of Humor

Seren was having a hard time holding back a few laughs and hiding her amused smile as the Winchester were filling in Bobby on their last hunt.

The boys were completely lost, no idea what they were facing. So far, they had a philandering professor thrown through a window by a possible spirit; a frat boy abducted by aliens, probed and made to slow-dance; and a research scientist eaten by a sewer gator. Common point, as the boys had put it, they were total dicks.

What was she doing there you ask? Some coincidences and nothing better to do.

She had texted Bobby to inform him she had his order of materials ready and when to bring it to him. Almost immediately, her phone was ringing and Bobby was asking her where she was at the moment, loud traffic noise giving away he was on the road. As soon as she answered Springfield, Ohio, he gave her an address and hung up after telling her to meet there.

So there she went, only to arrive at a motel room where she could hear the Winchester boys inside, fighting like little kids. She would wait outside for the old man, that was for sure.

An hour later, Bobby finally got there. Seren meant to give him the materials and go somewhere else, but Bobby asked for her to stay in case they could use her help on the case the boys were working on. Since Sirius was sleeping his hangover in Camille and they were required nowhere else, she had no real reason to refuse.

And there she was, hearing the boys bicker while she lounged atop the kitchenette counter, swinging her legs and eating lollipops. Dean kept sending glares her way from time to time, angry that she and Bobby were acquainted without his knowing. It’s not like he ever asked nor cared about her contact’s list, so she didn’t understand his problem. Sam, on the other hand, gave her tight lipped smiles and puppy looks as if apologizing for his brother’s attitude. Or the general situation, she wasn’t sure.

“Okay, I’ve heard enough,” Bobby interrupted them.

“You sure? I think the hour of bickering left until you arrived was really revealing,” Seren mocked. Dean made faces at her and she stuck her tongue out at him in return.

“Seren,” Bobby scolded her.

“What? They are being idiots and you know it.” she motioned for the boys. “Dean didn’t steal Sam’s computer and there’s no way Sam would do that to the Impala just to piss Dean off.”

“Yeah!” Sam confirmed sending a glare to his brother.

“If they had stopped biting each other heads off, they would have realized by now.” Seren assured, elbow on her knee and resting her chin on her hand, a lopsided smile on her lips.

“Realized what?” Dean asked, utterly annoyed.

“What you’re dealing with,” Bobby said.

Sam and Dean exchanged a look, coming with nothing. Bobby sighed and shook his head while Seren couldn’t help but to let out a laugh.

“You got a trickster on your hands,” the old man told them.

“That’s what I thought.” Dean snapped his fingers with a smug smile. Seren barked a sardonic laugh. “Oh, shut up!”

“Got to tell you,” Bobby started saying. “You guys were the biggest clue.”

“Really?” Seren blurted incredulously. As soon as the word left her lips, she covered her mouth with a hand and shrunk herself a bit, averting her eyes to the ceiling.

Bobby just huffed, shaking his head at her before resuming his trickster explanation on how they created chaos wherever they went, making people turn on each other for giggles. The boys finally realized the culprit of the lost laptop and the Impala’s flat tires. Took them long enough.

“So, what is it?” Dean stuttered. “Spirit, demon, what?”

“Try demigod, pretty boy.” Seren said before biting what was left of her lollipop with a loud crunch.

“There’s Loki in Scandinavia. There’s Anansi in West Africa.” Bobby explained. “There’s dozen of them. They’re immortal and can create things out of thing air. As real as you and me. Make them vanish just as quick.”

Dean and Sam were putting the pieces together. The angry spirit. The alien. The alligator. The trickster had made them all up.

“The victims fit the profile too.” Seren added rummaging in her camouflage cargos’ pockets. “Holier-than-thou in need a humbleness dose, served with a side of humor. Problem is, tricksters’ sense of humor is a bit—” Seren winced, making a face. “—murdery, to be honest.”

“And what do these things look like?” Dean asked looking at Bobby.

“Lots of things, but human, mostly.” the man answered, turning to him. “They also have a weak spot for sweet food. Their metabolism is so fast they are constantly eating the stuff.”

The noise of a wrapper being torn sounded unusually loud in the silence that followed that last statement. Sam, Dean and Bobby turned towards it, finding Seren about to take a big bite of a chocolate bar. She shut her mouth and stared between them, confused at first, her eyes open wide, before looking at the sweet in her hands.

“Maybe not the best time for my sugar fix, huh?” she murmured.

With her eyes fixed on the hunters, Seren bit the chocolate anyway and started chewing it in slow-motion. Sam gave her a bemused smile; Dean, an incredulous look; and Bobby simply muttered an ‘idjit’, shaking his head at her.

There was a knock on the door and Dean went to check who it was, taking his narrowed eyes from the girl only to look through the peephole.

“Your brother’s here,” Dean announced, letting Sirius in.

“Could you speak a bit lower?” the boy asked, as he held his head, slowly closing the door behind him so it made as little sound as possible.

“Looking good,” Seren smiled, taking a huge bite of her chocolate bar.

He looked worse for wear. A serious case of bed head, his shirt buttoned wrong, and different trainers on each foot that, luckily, matched enough to hide the mistake. To top his outfit off, Sirius was wearing his sunglasses, hot pink plastic frame and mirrored bluish lenses.

He gave Seren a sarcastic laugh before wincing at the sound of his own voice, massaging his temples.

“Don’t let me drink purple nurples ever again,” he whined, going towards Seren to rest his forehead on her shoulder.

“They are good, aren’t they?” laughed Dean. Sirius motioned for him to lower his tone, finger to his lips.

“I’ll do what I can,” Seren answered, resting her head on his for a moment.

“I’m bored,” Sirius whined like a little kid, tugging at her t-shirt. “Are you done? Can we go now?”

“You’re not staying?” Sam asked. Sirius would say he was giving her a hopeful look.

Seren shook her head, before stuffing what was left of the chocolate in her mouth, munching it as she made a ball with the wrapper and threw it to the bin. She patted her brother’s shoulder, motioning for him to move away a bit so she could get down the counter with an _alehop,_ after swallowing the chocolate.

A phone went off just as she opened her mouth to say something. Sirius jumped away from his sister and the loud noise of the ringtone, whimpering and groaning as he held his head and covered his ears.

“A job came up,” she said irritated, her frown deepening as she read the message.

“Seems to be a fun one,” Sirius commented with irony at her expression, massaging his temples. “What about?”

“Stupid people buying stuff they shouldn’t if they can’t follow simple, basic care instructions,” Seren told him as if reading a headline.

“Like in _Gremlins_?” her brother’s expression turned bright with a huge excited smile at the possibility. “If there’s a Gizmo, let’s capture it. I want one. So cute and fluffy.”

“You can’t be serious,” Dean scoffed with an incredulous look.

“But I _am_ Sirius,” the boy gave him a toothy grin, looking over his sunglasses at the hunter.

“For the last time,” Seren groaned, angrily typing a reply to the message and punching the send button. “That pun was only funny when you were a little kid.”

“Chicks like it,” Sirius assured, turning to her, still looking over his sunglasses and wiggling his eyebrows before adding. “Some dudes too.”

“They bear with it because they wanna get in your pants,” Seren deadpanned.

Sirius was left stunned at her comeback, gawping at her, wide eyed and open mouthed. After a moment, he took the sunglasses off, placed a hand on his chest and he faked drying a tear from the corner of his eye, proud at his sister’s quip.

Seren rolled her eyes at him before turning to the hunters, “You already know what you are going against and we better hit the road before someone ends dead. See you and good luck.”

And with that said, Seren left the room and marched to her van. She sat behind the wheel and waited for Sirius to get on the back, practically dragging his feet as he cowered from the sunlight. She waited until he was laying down on the mattress she had stuffed in there, then started the car and left towards the new job. If the client followed the instructions she texted them, she had a leeway between an hour or two before the situation got worse. Should be enough. If they didn’t, well, she better speed up if she didn’t want to take care of the clean up.

“What was their hunt about?” Sirius asked some minutes later, interrupting her line of thoughts.

He was a bit curious about what could make Dean put up with Seren’s mere presence in the same room but, mostly, he needed anything to distract himself from the motion sickness he was feeling. Stupid purple nurples and stupid hangover.

“Trickster,” his sister answered.

Sirius nodded before freezing in realization, “Wait.”

After some rustling, a thump and a hissed curse, the curtain that separated the front seats and the back opened dramatically. Sirius poked his head though the gap, sunglasses lowered to look at her without seeing her tinted blue.

“Weren’t you friends with one of those?” his expression was somber.

She nodded even if she wasn’t sure ‘friend’ was the correct term.

Their meeting had been years ago, and it involved one of his pranks going further than intended, and Seren doing damage control. _Tía_ Rosa had taken her to a circus for a gig or something, she didn’t remember clearly. Seren wasn’t precisely on a good place during those years, to be honest.

Case was, she had gone for a walk around the place to get familiar with it, only to find one of the circus clowns on the floor, head buried under a giant not-so-fake weight. He was very much death. Worst of all, a bunch of happy kids enjoying the fair and stuffing their faces with cotton candy were going that way.

Seren had panicked and done the first thing that came to her mind at the moment: play it off as if the dead clown was some top-notch prop she was preparing for a show. After some improv, the kids left, non the wiser, laughing and telling her they looker forward to her full show. When she was feeling like she was about to throw up whatever she had in her stomach—from the nerves or from treating the dead body like that, she wasn’t sure—someone had started clapping, making her hold the retching and turn to her public with a forced smile.

The trickster.

As it seemed, he had his own plan to hide the body from the kids but got curious of how hers would play out and simply watched the show. He certainly had enjoyed it, shaking her hand enthusiastically, praising her style. After some presentations and getting away from the dead guy, he had made appear a bunch of candy for them to share as he told her about old pranks. Seren had rolled with it even if she felt it weird and more than a bit confusing. But the candies were good and his stories funnier than she would like to recognize. He made himself scarce right before _tía_ Rosa appeared, looking for her.

They had met again a few times along the years.

The first time, she hadn’t been sure how to act. He had been posing as a teenager girl, both of them waiting under a ledge for the rain to ease off. Their eyes had met, and she had seen something in them, a strange gleam or a hint of recognition. She wasn’t sure what had been, but she knew that girl was the trickster from the circus. Should she greet him? Should she ignore him? None of those options seemed wise.

Before she had a chance to make up her mind, he was right beside her, their shoulders touching. He had a twinkle of amusement in his eyes as he acted cute and whined about being ignored after the good time they had shared last time. Some people that were close gave them weird looks. Seren didn’t understand why. The trickster laughed as he hooked their arms.

Seren tried to play it off as a misunderstanding, saying he got the wrong person as she freed her arm, and leaving right away. But he had followed after her. She then had turned into an alley. Once out of the passerby’s eyes, Seren had pulled a knife to his neck. Maybe not a smart move, considering what he was, but he was starting to make her really uncomfortable.

After almost stabbing himself on her raised knife—not like it would do him any real harm—the trickster raised his hands in defeat and dropped the disguise, a smile on his lips.

“How did you know it was me?” he had asked her, head tilted to a side.

“How did you know that I knew?” she had thrown back, copying the gesture.

“Your eyes.” The trickster signaled to his with his hands. “You should work on you poker face a bit more, sugar. Your turn to answer.”

“I… I just… I just knew,” she had stuttered. Her own answer frustrated her, but it was the truth. “Something in your eyes too. You should check that.”

He had given her an appraising look. After a long moment, he simply nodded, giving her a toothy grin before snapping his fingers. An umbrella appeared in one of his hands, a bag of pastries on the other. He offered to share the goodies and some stories like last time if she wanted. Some sort of prize for finding him, he had said.

After that day, the trickster made a game out of that meeting.

If she ever recognized him, she would have to make a signal, like the spies in some movies: she would say a line and he would give her the agreed answer to confirm it was him. Then, when it was safe, he would drop by wherever she was staying and hang out, eating candies and exchanging jokes and stories. Sometimes, he would conjure whatever sweet or treat she asked for. Others, Seren would get a bunch of her favorites to share with him. Once, she even tried to make chocolate chip cookies. Tried was the key word there. At least the trickster had had a good laugh.

Now that she was really thinking about it, it did sound like they were friends.

“Please, don’t tell me it’s the same trickster,” Sirius gave her an expectant look, lopsided smile already on his lips. “I’m begging you.”

“Yep,” Seren popped with a mischievous grin on her face.

Sirius burst out laughing, tossing around in the back of the van. The sound of things thumping and falling made Seren worry about her cargo and asked her brother to calm down a bit. At least his headache seemed to have receded.

“Oh, boy!” Sirius’ head reappeared back in the gap, no sunglasses as he dried tears from his eyes, still chortling. “I call dibs on breaking the news to Dean.”

“He would be out of his freaking mind if he heard,” Seren laughed.

“Aren’t you worried?” he wondered, poking her shoulder with a finger.

“About you telling Dean I’m friends with a trickster?” she forced herself to ignore the pang she felt when she pictured a certain pair of green eyes and the renewed hatred they would look at her with.

“No, silly.” Sirius rolled his eyes at her, not taking notice of how her hands had tightened on the wheel. “About your trickster friend getting ganked by the Winchesters bros.”

“Immortal demigod, brother.” Seren pointed out with a chuckle, taking a look at him thought the rear mirror. “He’ll be fine.”

“And Sam and Dean and Bobby?” Sirius poked her arm with each name. “Aren’t you worried about them?”

“I’m driving,” Seren reminded him with a frown, waving away his hand from her. “And they’ll be fine. I think the trickster liked them.”


	10. Chapter 10 — Dreams and Drinks

He was sure it was nothing, Dean had said. That he just wanted to ‘take a look around’.

An hour later and Sam still had no news from his brother. Not that he had been sitting idly in their motel room. No way. Minutes after he had hung up, Sam had left to check the area were the disappearances had taken place, looking for the Impala. Wherever the Impala was, Dean wouldn’t be too far away.

What Sam didn’t count on was finding a moss green Chevy van parked not too far from his brother’s car.

The world sure was a small place sometimes.

He was about to check if someone was inside, when the copilot door opened with a kick and Sirius practically stormed outside, mumbling curses. Sam could hear his voice change pitch as he spoke, a tell that the boy was reenacting a conversation with his sister. Sam called for him.

“Oh! Hey, Sam.” Sirius greeted him, with a nervous chuckle, not knowing what to do with his arms after being caught.

“What are you doing here?” Sam asked. “Is Seren in there?” Sam nodded to their van.

“More like—” Sirius pointed at the building besides them with both hands and a pop noise. “—in there.”

It seemed Seren was hired for a job there, Sirius didn’t get into details. The siblings had gotten there, seen the Impala parked outside, and had a little argument. Sirius wanted to leave or wait until Dean left, but Seren heard none of it and had gone inside. That had been fifteen minutes ago.

Wasting no more time, the both of them went into the building, armed, looking for their siblings. Didn’t take them too long to find Dean, hanging on hooks from the ceiling along the three missing victims. Two were clearly dead, their appearance that of a mummy, drained. The third victim was unconscious, too pale and worn out for comfort. Dean was unconscious and looking a bit pale.

Sirius had to stop Sam from sprinting to get to his brother, grabbing him by the arm and giving him a tug so he hid again. The djinn had come back to it’s lair, carrying an unconscious Seren on its arms. It was Sam’s turn to stop Sirius from jumping from their hiding place this time, making sure he didn’t even try to use his powers. Last thing they needed was a special children with a power high.

And so, they waited, watching how the djinn prepared Seren as it must have done to the others. It hung her from her tied hands to a free hook and stuck a needle on her neck, her blood starting to fill a plastic bag besides her.

“We are two against one, Sam.” Sirius hissed in a whisper, his eyes piercing the djinn as it circled his sister. “We can take him. Now.”

Sam was trying to be rational. True, they had the numbers in their favor, but one single mistake and they would be in real trouble. He forced himself to tell the other boy to wait, at least until the djinn left. Then, they would wake their respective sibling and free them. Four against one sounded way better than two on one.

The djinn left and, after counting to ten, they put their plan in motion. Sirius rushed to get to Seren, took the needle from her neck, carefully, and cut her ties. Her limp body fell on him and he carried her to a side, whispering reassurances. He set her on the ground, back resting on the wall. Sirius tried to wake her, calling for her and patting her cheek softly, not wanting to hurt her.

Seren’s eyelids fluttered and opened a little, her eyes unfocused. Her lips moved as if to say something but no sound left her mouth. Her eyes closed again with a soft sigh.

“Come on, Seren. Wake up, please.” He begged, patting her face a bit harder.

Her eyes opened again, this time more focused as she looked at him in drowsy confusion. Something seemed to have caught her attention and she mouthed a word.

Back.

Sirius turned in time to see a hand glowing blue come at him.

 

* * *

 

Stupid djinn and it’s stupid power.

She hadn’t been careful enough and now she could only watch as that thing knocked Sirius out and gave her a dismissal look. The djinn left without using its powers on her again, surely considering she was more out than conscious, and went for Sam, too busy cutting his brother free to notice the menace.

She shook her head to get rid of the remnants of her dream. It wasn’t real, none of it. Remembering it made her furious. That wasn’t good either. She needed to focus. To be cold and calm. Risky actions had a price she wouldn’t pay. Silently, she got on her feet, picking her brother’s knife from where he had left fell, it at his side.

That thing would pay dearly.

The djinn had attacked Sam, throwing him away from Dean, the older Winchester still tied and too dizzy to react. The monster lurked Sam, not paying any heed at its surroundings—at her.

Big mistake.

Seren stalked towards the djinn until she was practically looming over it, even though she was shorted than it. She got in position, ready for the strike, and whistled to get it’s attention, as loud and high pitched as she could.

Her face would be the last thing it saw.

The djinn turned and, before it registered their closeness, she drove the knife in its chest with all the strength in her body. They fell to the floor and she stabbed it once, twice, three times before twisting the blade and yanking it free from its chest.

A wave of dizziness hit her, her vision going unfocused for a moment. Even with the djinn dead the dream was calling her back. Worst was, she craved to go back. She wanted it so much. But it wasn’t real. A wishful dream and nothing more.

A whisper of her name made her look up, finding Sam’s hazel eyes on her, worry and alarm mixed in them after the display he had witnessed.

Seren was sure to be quite a picture at the moment. Straddling a djinn’s corpse, her hands covered with its blood and still holding the knife that had killed it. Breathing still swallow and skin glistening with beads of cold sweat. She hoped he didn’t notice her eyes brimming with tears.

She gave Sam a curt nod and schooled her expression the best she could. She got up and went towards Sirius, who had awakened from the djinn’s spell and was looking around, confused frown on his face.

Dean and her crossed paths as each went to their sibling. She avoided looking at him. Last thing she needed at the moment was his judgment or whatever problem he had found against her at the time.

“Back from Matrix?” Seren patted Sirius’ shoulder, an attempt at a smile on her lips to lighten the mood.

He didn’t say anything, just looked at her with shinny eyes before engulfing her in a crushing hug, burying his face in her shoulder, tugging some of her hair by accident. His whole body was trembling. He was crying.

Seren sighed, not sure what to do other than hug him back and rest her head against his. She rubbed her knuckles up and down between his shoulder blades in soothing motions, and shushed him, just like she used to do when they were kids and he scrapped his knees. Didn’t matter how much taller he had become with the years, or the beard he was still growing to hide his boyish face: Sirius would forever be her crybaby little brother. Not that it bothered her.

“It seemed so real,” Sirius sobbed. “Why can’t it be real?”

She had no answer.

She needed a drink.

Once Sirius had calmed down, they turned to see the Winchesters free the last victim. She was still alive, weak due blood loss—and hunger and dehydration—, but still breathing. They had to take her to a hospital soon.

“The Impala or Camille?” Seren blurted out, earning a confused look from the boys. “Hospital?” She would worry later for her sudden inability to articulate a whole sentence.

“Your van might be a better option,” Dean answered before vaguely motioning at her. “You should… You should clean up first though.”

Seren took a look at herself. She sure should if she wanted to walk in public and don’t get arrested. She gave him a nod.

Swiftly and carefully, Sam and Dean carried the unconscious girl to the van. Seren opened the back doors and motioned for them to put her on the mattress she had there. Sam took his chance to take a peek inside. Mattress aside, it was filled with books, jars, and some boxes and cases. There was even a shelf over the mattress, some pots with plants on it.

“Sirius,” Seren tossed the keys to him. “You drive.” Three pair of eyes gave her a surprised look. “I have to get changed and she’s too weak for us to be wasting time. _Allez,_ _a_ _llez_!”

They took the girl to the closest hospital and, once they made sure she was being taken care of, they left before anyone could ask for their statement. Seren followed the Impala to their motel since Sam had said to talk after and Dean didn’t object nor made a face for once.

“Are you okay?” Sam asked as soon as they got out of Camille. “Both of you?”

“We’re still standing,” Seren gave him a noncommittal shrug, resting against the van with a sigh.

“We’ll keep on marching,” Sirius added, mirroring his sister. “And there’s no need to add me. We all know you have the hots for my sis.”

“You good, pretty boy?” she asked Dean while Sam tried to defend himself and Sirius kept teasing him.

“Yeah, I’m good.” Dean nodded at her, clearing his throat.

He was acting weird. Weird as in, he didn’t seem to have it in for her anymore. It made her wonder what he had seen under the djinn’s spell. It was the only thing she could think about that made him change like that. She wasn’t too sure Dean should really let himself get affected by something that wasn’t real, though.

Just a dream. Not real.

“I need a drink,” she blurted, full honesty.

Seren stepped away from the van and started walking down the street searching for a bar that didn’t look too shabby. She didn’t need to check behind her to know Sirius and the Winchesters were following her. She could hear his brother skipping and telling the boys to join them like he was selling a circus show.

 

* * *

 

“Why does she keep speaking in freaking french?” Dean wondered a bit too loud.

The four of them had found a bar and they had already a few drinks in them. Sirius, Sam and Dean were sitting at a secluded table, by Seren’s request, while she finished hustling a pair of jocks at darts. They seemed to enjoy the way she celebrated her luck in french or cursed when she ‘failed’ a shot.

“Pal,” Sirius almost choked on his drink, giving him a look as if the answer was obvious. “She’s Canadian.”

“No.” Dean’s skeptical, but the boy’s deadpan expression didn’t change. “Really?”

“Born in Toronto, Ontario.” Seren’s voice confirmed.

She set a bottle of tequila in the middle of the table before going around it, placing shot glasses in front of each of the boys and one in front of her seat. She sat down with a flourish and slapped a few bills on the table, proud smile on her lips as she announced drinks were on her while that money lasted.

“One doesn’t speak french just because they were born in Canada.” Dean frowned, looking at the siblings like they were trying to trick him.

“Dad’s from Quebec,” Sirius threw back, mocking him as he took the bottle and filled his glass. “He taught us some french.”

“Mom hates it,” Seren laughed, holding up her glass for her brother to fill. “How it sounds. Grates on her nerves, like clawing on a blackboard, she says.”

“The looks she gave dad when we started cursing in french,” Sirius cackled. “We never found out if she was more mad about the cursing or about the french.”

“The french. Definitely the french.” Seren giggled after drinking her shot in a go. “Poor Jethro.”

“What a happy family,” Dean grumbled, annoyed.

The laughs left both siblings, each with their eyes on their glasses. Sirius expression was tense, his brow furrowed in thought. Seren had a melancholic smile on her lips but her eyes filled with sadness and something Sam couldn’t put his finger on.

“It really was,” Seren sighed before downing her tequila.

She snatched the bottle from Sirius’ slack grip, served herself another glass and drank it in one go.

Sam jabbed Dean’s side, not that the older Winchester needed it this time to know he should have kept his pie hole shut.

He remembered his dream and the Seren he had seen in it. She had appeared at Mary’s to return something her mother had borrowed. In that reality, they were neighbors. After an offhanded comment from Mary about Dean’s unusual behavior, Seren had tested him with salt and silver. She had been really discreet about it, but Dean had caught on. He confronted her and, at some point in the conversation, Dean called her witch. He couldn’t even remember how the conversation had gone for him to say so, but Seren had seen red then, crashing him against a wall. In that reality, she was no witch. In that reality, she was a hunter.

Dean knew it wasn’t real, but still. It bothered him. What if it was like with their past cases? In Dreamland, they weren’t there to stop the monsters and people had died because they weren’t hunters. Did that mean that they becoming hunters had made Seren become a witch?

Dean chug his drink to drown those thoughts. Mulling over it was useless. A dream. Not real. It didn’t matter.

He got up and went to the bar for another drink when his sleeve got stuck on something. He tried to free it without even looking, finding two fingers pitching the cloth. Dean turned, confused frown on his face, and looked at the finger’s owner. Seren. He yanked his sleeve free from her harshly.

Dean swore a flash of hurt crossed her expression before disappearing behind a sardonic smirk. She flaunted the money her other hand was holding, waving it softly. It was the same bills she had left on the table before.

“I was about to remind you drinks were on me until this was spent,” she stuffed the bills in the inside pocket of her jacket. “But I’ve changed my mind.”

She turned back to the table, drinking another shot. Dean left, shaking his head. When he was back, the tequila bottle was more than half empty and it didn’t seem like Sirius had drank more than a pair of shots. Sam’s shot glass remained untouched. Dean sat down while Sirius and Sam exchanged Stanford anecdotes or something, he didn’t pay attention to them.

A phone went off, startling Seren with a jump and almost making her drop the bottle. The woman looked around, confused, searching for the source of the noise. Sirius laughed at her, trying to hide it by burying his face on his arms on the table.

“ _Tais-toi_ ,” Seren grumbled at her brother when she realized it was her phone. She searched for it in all her pockets. Even the smaller ones.

“That was Ethan’s ringtone, wasn’t it?” Sirius asked, turning his head to look at his sister. His eyes then went to Sam. “You have to be careful with that guy. He might steal her from you.”

“ _Tais-toi, j’_ _ai_ _di_ _t_.” she shushed her brother, waving him away like a fly, almost slapping him, finally finding her phone.

She scowled at the device’s screen, the words on it blurring and moving a bit around as she tried to read the message she had received. Sirius took advantage of the distraction to get the bottle away from her, setting it on the floor beside his foot. Out of sight, out of mind.

It took her quite a while, but she finally read the text. Well, not really, but read just enough to get the general idea that there was no a life-or-death kinda situation that required her immediate attention. Good thing, because she was in no condition to face none of that at the moment. Seren put the phone away with a sigh, almost dropping it a few times in the process.

“What did that poor soul get himself into this time?” Sirius wondered with a mischievous smile, sipping his glass as if it was a steamy cup of tea, for some reason. “Tell him that, if he wants to see you, asking you on a date is better than walking into mortal danger.”

“He’s not in danger.” There was a tense pause. “This time.”

Sirius barked a laugh before leaning towards the Winchesters as if to share a secret. “So far, Seren has saved that guy from a wendigo, a vampire, a werewolf, and three cursed objects.”

“Two cursed objects and an evil spirit.” The girl corrected before emptying her glass.

“It’s like he’s filling a bingo card!” Sirius laughed, leaning back on his chair, holding his sides.

“You are hilarious,” Seren slurred, eyes narrowed at her brother.

“No, I’m Sirius.” he said with a straight face, making her groan, her hands messing her hair in frustration, making him laugh.

“Were did the tequila go?” Seren eyes darted suspiciously over the table and under it before narrowing them at her brother. “Sirius.”

He raised his hands in surrender, his eyes open wide in an innocently expression as he blinked repeatedly in surprise at her accusation. Seren’s eyes became slits and was about to say something, when a phone went off, distracting her as she fished for hers.

“It’s mine,” Sirius laughed, showing them the device as he got up. “Be right back.”

The three at the table watched him leave, answering the call before opening the bar’s door to go outside. With an exaggerated sigh, Seren bent down and to a side, recovering the bottle of tequila with a triumphant gesture and a bright smile. Surprisingly, she didn’t refill her glass and simply placed the bottle on the table with a victorious gesture.

“Sirius thinks I don’t know when to stop drinking, but I do.” she told the Winchesters with a proud smile.

Sam and Dean eyed the bottle before giving her an incredulous look. Their expressions made her giggle. At some point, she had fished the silver ring that hanged around her neck and had started fiddling with it. Her giggles sobered slowly.

“I have a question,” she began, her eyes fixing on Dean. “Did you tell him?” She motioned to Sam with her head.

“About what?” Dean had almost choked on his drink. Had she seen anything when their fingers touched before?

“About the dream?” Sam guessed and Seren nodded. “Yes.”

Dean was practically holding his breath, waiting for what Seren had to say about it. But she only gave a defeated nod, leaning back on her chair, her fingers fidgeting with the ring more than fiddling with it.

“Is something wrong?” Sam asked, worry in his eyes. “What is it?”

“It’s…” Seren bit her lip, eyes looking down. She shook her head. “It’s complicated.”

“Maybe we can help,” Sam offered with a kind, encouraging look.

Dean rolled his eyes at his brother before taking a gulp of his drink to keep his mouth shut.

“It’s Sirius. He saw something in his dream that’s been bothering him.” She said as quick as she could before she thought better of it. “I asked him, but he said it’s nothing. He must have forgotten that I can _feel_ it as if it oozed from him.”

“Witchy feel?” Dean asked, no bitterness on his tone. Sam gave him a disapproving look anyway.

“Yeah, something like that.” Seren chuckled.

Sam’s phone went off. Seren started laughing, finding it funny for some reason. The younger Winchester got up and motioned for the door, just like Sirius had done before leaving to answer the call.

He wasn’t fast enough and, whoever called, had already hung up when he tried to answer. Sam sighed, thinking that the person who called might have had the wrong number, and pocketed his phone, realizing he had left Dean and Seren alone in there. His brother had seemed… not so harsh on her, but it was best to don’t tempt fate.

Sam was about to go back in when Sirius’ angry voice got his attention. The boy had gone to a secluded corner and was pacing as he argued with the person on the other end of the line. Sam got closer.

“…all along? How could—Lyra?” Sirius shook his head vehemently. “No. Look…” he sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose. “I’m not gonna argue with you, Lyra. Put mom back on the phone. No, I… I don’t freaking care! Put. Mom. Back. On the damn phone! Lyra? Lyra!”

Sirius scowled at his phone as if it had personally offended him and was about to throw it to the floor and stomp on it when he saw Sam watching him. With a deep frown, Sirius forced himself to calm down with a few deep breaths as he put away the device before he changed his mind about it.

“Please, tell me you didn’t just leave your brother and my sister alone in there.” Sirius groaned, passing his fingers through his hair.

“There’s no ruckus inside, so they must be behaving.” Sam answered with a shrug. “What was that?”

“Just some family feud.” Sirius answered a bit harshly before letting out a tired sigh. “Let’s go back inside.”

 

* * *

 

“Maybe we should call this a night and catch some sleep,” Seren slurred slightly as she stretched her arms over her head.

“Seren.”

Dean had called her name before really knowing what he wanted to say. She waited, her sharp dark brown eyes fixed on him, encouraging and patient, even if a bit wary too. He held her stare for a moment, licking his lips before looking down at his glass as he turned it in circles on the table.

He wanted to ask her about what he had seen. About her being a hunter and not a witch in his dream. He didn’t know why that bothered him so much, but it did. Dean had deliberately skipped that part when telling Sam.

He tried to properly ask, but he could only stutter words that made no real sense. He shook his head, frustrated with himself.

“Dean,” Seren called him, softly. “It was only a dream.”

“I know that,” he groaned, rubbing a hand down his face. “It’s just…”

“Stop,” she cut him. She sounded tired. “I’m a witch. There’s no changing that now.”

Dean’s muscles tensed and his brow furrowed. She really had seen something when they touched before.

“Relax, pretty boy.” She told him with a smile, mix of bitterness and amusement in it. “Our fingers only grazed. No real contact. I’ve seen nothing. Cross my heart.” She even made the motion.

“Then how—”

“Just a hunch.” Seren stood up, her stance a bit unstable. “And I was starting to miss those glares you send my way.” She added with a wink.

A shocked gasp sounded absurdly loud in the bar. Seren and Dean turned, finding their brothers were back. Sam was giving Sirius a confused look while the later covered his mouth with his hands, eyes wide open.

“Betrayal!” Sirius accused, pointing at Seren.

“Sirius, I’m the drunk one today.” Seren said with a silly smile and pointing at herself with both hands. “I’m the one supposed to don’t make sense.”

“You were flirting with Dean just now. You winked at him!” Sirius went full drama. “How could you do this to poor Sammy!” He hugged him in an exaggerated way, with one leg along with his arms.

“It’s Sam,” the boy corrected, tense and more than a bit uncomfortable.

“I repeat: I’m the drunk one.” Seren insisted with a huff, swatting her brother away from Sam before pushing him towards the exit. “And this drunk wants to get some shut eye and don’t think about the hangover she will have tomorrow.”

That, and the bad feeling that had settled within her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to turn this work into a series, so each arc (show season) will be separated and maybe easier to follow.  
> On a side note, I'm still writing Season 2 Finale. I knew it would be hard but it's killing me. What did i get myself into?


	11. Chapter 11 — Howdy

Sirius was gone.

Seren was frozen in place, sitting on her motel bed, her stare fixed on her brother’s bed trying to remain calm and analyze what was going on. Panic would get her nowhere.

For starters, Sirius never woke up before her. Ever. His bed was perfectly made, even better than how they had found it the night before. There was a note right in the middle of it, Sirius’ tacky sunglasses resting over it, acting as a paperweight so no indiscreet breeze would misplace it by accident.

It was clear he had left on his own accord, at least.

The morning sun that filtered thought the curtains shone on Seren’s eyes, making a latent hangover flare. She groaned, covering from the light with her hand as she squinted.

After forcing her brain to stop overthinking worst case scenarios for a second, she finally got up to read the note, hoping it would be just Sirius mocking her for oversleeping before telling her he had gone to get breakfast.

No such luck.

 

> Out on a secret mission.  
>  You are not invited.  
>  Be back before you can even miss me.
> 
> Your favorite brother,  
>  Sirius
> 
> P.S I’m lending you my awesome hangover sunglasses.  
>  No need to thank me. Already I know how graciously compassionate I am.

 

Seren’s eyes narrowed at the note. Even if his words might be nonchalant and pure Sirius’ like, he forgot to check their mood matched with his handwriting. The letters looked harsh and pointy, like scratches, instead of his loopy and soft cursive, and the words were all over the piece of paper, going up and down instead of clean, almost perfect lines he always bragged about. Put that together and Seren could guess Sirius had written it in a haste, surely stealing glances her way from time to time, making sure she was still asleep.

He had left in a hurry, but with enough time to make sure he didn’t leave behind a mess that would make her think something was utterly wrong. It was planned. He had planned it the night before. Did it have anything to do with his dreamland?

A sudden cold shiver ran though her body. Her general bad feeling, the uneasiness she felt from Sirius after his djinn induced dream, and now he was gone without telling her anything. Realization dawned on her in the form of a tempting smirk and red eyes at a crossroad.

He wouldn’t dare. Would he?

Seren got dressed and put her boots on in record time before storming out of the room, not even bothering to check out, leaving the key in the room. She tried to reach Sirius on his phone as she strode towards Camille, her eyes glaring at anything and everything from behind the bluish lenses of the sunglasses. The call did not connect and she cursed.

After opening the back doors, Seren jumped inside, dropping her bag without even looking where as she mentally reviewed the ingredients she would need for the tracking spell. All thoughts left her when she took a look at her stuff. It might have seemed normal, as if nothing was amiss, but she knew better. Sirius had been in there before leaving, maybe looking for the ingredients for a crossroad summoning. Not like she would ever had those around, but he wouldn’t know. After a thorough search, Seren found her brother had taken every map she owned and a few key ingredients, rendering most of her tracking spells useless.

She had taught him too much too well, it seemed. Good thing she always made sure to have a backup plan in store.

Someone knocked on her van.

“Good morning, princess”

Seren froze in place, a shiver running down her spine.

_Good morning, princess._

Turning ever so slowly, she took a side glance at the back’s wide open doors. She had forgotten to close them. There stood the silhouette of a man, back-lit with the morning sun, his features unrecognizable due the shadows. One of his hands resting on the hood.

_Enjoyed your little getaway, didn’t you?_

Her heartbeat went faster by the moment, feeling trapped. Seren held her breath as she tried remain calm. One of her hands went to her chest, feeling for the moon pendant under her clothes, clutching it to make sure it was there.

That man wasn’t _him_. _He_ was dead. She was sure of it.

She had killed him.

“Everything okay?” Sam’s voice asked.

Seren blinked once, twice, and the younger Winchester’s silhouette appeared by the open doors, making the other one shift. The shadows that had hid his features were gone. It wasn’t _him_ , it was just Dean.

“Don’t call me that,” she hissed at him before getting out of the van, fixing him with a glare and crossing her arms before her chest, head high to look him straight in the eyes. “Ever.” She added with a low growl, hoping he didn’t notice her trembling.

Dean backed from her, hands in the air with a mocking smirk on his lips, “Nice sunglasses.”

Seren took them off and hung them on her shirt’s neckline before glaring at Dean again so he could see her eyes now. He let out a chuckle at that. Seren narrowed her eyes even more before remembering what she was doing until he appeared.

“You know how much I love our little talks, pretty boy,” Seren’s tone dripped sarcasm. She went back inside the van. “But I’m in a bit of a hurry.”

“Where’s Sirius?” Sam asked, looking around.

“He’s the reason I’m in a hurry,” she huffed, rummaging through her stuff.

“What happened?” Sam was fast to ask. “Can we help?”

“Unless you have a map of this city and it’s surroundings—”

“We do.”

Seren stopped still and turned to give a questioning look at Sam with a raised eyebrow, as in ‘really?’. The boy nodded with a smile while Dean rolled his eyes at him.

“Sam Winchester, I could kiss you right now,” Seren declared with a huge relieved smile. “But I think Dean would shoot me straight to Hell if I did. Can’t afford that,” she added with a wink.

The younger Winchester chuckled, cheeks slightly red. He motioned to go get the map for her before leaving. Dean stayed, watching her compare what for him were two identical quartz pendants.

“Is there anything we should know?” he asked with a certain suspicion. No accusation though, “Demons?”

“Yes and no,” was her answer, making Dean groan a complain at the ambiguity of it. “It’s no Yellow Eyes, but Sirius might have gone and summoned a crossroad demon.” She bit her lip as she inspected one of the quartz with her fingertips after discarding the other.

“He went to make a deal?”

“Don’t know for sure,” she admitted. Her bad feeling was still there, and she had found the bad way it was safer to overreact.

Dean was about to ask her something else, when Sam came back with the map she had asked for. Seren picked it with a quick thank you and spread it out on the van’s floor before sitting cross-legged in front of it. Ignoring the Winchester’s whispering between them, she took a few deep breaths to still herself before extending her arm over it, hand holding the quartz pendant’s string, making it swing softly in circles as she concentrated on the one-use marker charm she had put on Sirius for emergencies. She had planted it after the shapeshifter incident, in case he was taken hostage again or something. Seren would never have guessed that ‘something’ would be Sirius going to sell his soul behind her back.

The quartz seemed to tug faintly south so she let the pendant swing there. Just when it seemed to settle, it kept tugging south. She was sure there were plenty of crossroads close by for Sirius to keep moving so far away. When the pendant tried to go further south than what the map showed, Seren’s brow furrowed.

“That can’t be right.” Dean muttered, echoing her thoughts. “Would he really go that far away looking for a crossroad?”

“Luckily, I guessed wrong and he didn’t go sell his soul,” Seren mused to herself before turning to the brothers. “You wouldn’t happen to have a map of the whole country too. Would you?”

Sam went and came back in a breeze, and Seren started scanning the new map near where the other one left. The pendant kept tugging south. She wasn’t one hundred percent sure but, by the speed it moved and the beeline it seemed to follow, Sirius might be traveling on a plane. To Nashville.

“False alarm,” she sighed, dropping her arm as the tension went away. Her uneasiness grew though. “Thank you for the maps and sorry to bother you, lads.”

“Wait. Where’s he going?” Dean asked, puzzled.

“He’s going home.” She folded the maps and handed them back.

“To see your mom?” Sam wondered. Seren gave him an inquiring look. “I heard him yesterday on the phone. Someone called Lyra hung up on him when he was trying to speak with her.”

“That’s my little sister for you,” Seren chuckled dryly. “Sirius must have brought me up and Lyra got overprotective with mom. She tends to do that.”

“You are the family’s sore topic, I see.”

“I’m a witch, pretty boy. What do you think?” Seren gave him a sardonic smile before closing the van’s doors on their faces.

 

* * *

 

Days had passed and Sirius wasn’t back yet. At least he had called her the second day he had been gone. He told her he was safe, that everyone was fine, and to thank her for letting him go his way. Seren reluctantly admitted to have done so only because she found out where he had run to. Sirius had laughed then, admitting he had thought as much but that he was grateful anyway. He gave no explanation as to why he left, and Seren didn’t ask for one.

She made sure to remind him basic security measures, her gut feeling only getting worse each day that passed. Sirius tried to reassure her, saying that she was overreacting, that everything was fine. Calm. She would have liked to trust him on that, but knew better. A storm was brewing. She could feel it, and it unnerved her not knowing when it would hit.

 

* * *

 

Seren had just finished a job. Nasty one at that. Evil spirits protecting a treasure her client wanted badly enough as to pay triple their original offer when she refused to take it a few times. She should have asked for more.

Her body was sore, bruises turning all colors already. She practically crawled into the safety of Camille and let herself fall on her mattress, only to see her phone screen blinking in front of her face, with lost calls from a number she didn’t recognize and a voice message. This was her personal phone, only people she _knew_ should have it, so an unknown number tripped a few alarms.

With a puzzled look, she fumbled with the options, not used to having voicemail service, much less someone actually leaving a message. She had it disabled on the job numbers and the people that had the personal one knew she favored texts. After some fumbling with the options, she finally found the voicemail and played the message.

“Seren!” Sirius urgent voice made her sit up with a jolt, her heart already on her throat. He sounded equally angry and scared. “Seren, please pick up the damn phone! This is important, damn it! That time… What happened that time… It... It wasn’t your fault! And mom… She—”

There was an unbearable screech that made her take the phone away from her ear, followed by static until the message ended. Her bad feeling turned to lead inside her.

A storm had been brewing and she hadn’t known when it would hit.

Until it did.

“Howdy.”

Swiftly, she had a knife ready in her hand as she put as much distance between whoever sat on the front seats and herself. Considering they were both inside Camille, it felt stupid and a bit useless, but still better than doing nothing and staying unarmed.

Two fingers slid open the curtain between the seats, a pair of yellow eyes staring at her from the cabin as the smell of sulfur hit her nose. Her grip on the knife tightened. Her heart skipped a beat before scowling at the demon, almost growling at him, demanding to know what he wanted.

“Oh, just a courtesy visit.” Yellow Eyes smiled. “It’s been so long, I was wondering how you were doing, kiddo. After, well, everything that happened.” He rested his head on a hand, two fingers tapping his temple with feigned discretion.

“None of your business,” Seren hissed. It made him chuckle.

“Don’t be like that. We are practically family,” he said with a smirk. “Not that you really care about that lately. Right? Leaving your phone behind when your baby brother needed your watchful protection. That’s from more than an hour ago,” he clicked his tongue in a reproachful way. “It’s almost like you wanted me to get him.”

“Where is he,” she demanded with a low growl.

Seren shifted her hold on her knife, her palm sweaty. It was useless, she knew that much. It didn’t matter which of her knives she used against him, it would only harm the meat suit, not the demon wearing it. But having the blade in her fingers had a soothing effect on her. Not like she could attack him without putting the neutral pact in jeopardy, anyway. So far, he hadn’t attacked her, and she didn’t have any evidence he had done anything to harm Sirius.

In times like this, she really hated that stupid agreement.

“He’s fine,” Yellow Eyes told her dismissively, rolling his eyes like she was an overreacting, fretting first-time mother. “For now.”

“What do you want from him?”

“A war is coming. But you already knew that,” Seren wanted to punch his teeth into his mouth so he would stop smiling at her as if they shared a secret. “I already got the army ready. Now, I need a general to command it. The best of the best.”

Seren’s eyes widened. The special children. Only one. A battle royal.

“Leave Sirius out of it,” she tried to order, but her voice broke in the last moment. “Let him go.”

The demon let out an exaggerated sigh, “No can do, kiddo. This has been on the planning for way too long to cancel now on a whim.”

“I’m not telling you to cancel whatever master plan you think you have,” Seren growled. “I’m telling you to leave Sirius out of it.”

“What are you willing to offer me to do so?” he taunted with an arrogant smirk.

“What would you want?” Seren threw back without batting an eye.

The demon’s smile widened, if that was even possible.

“Nothing you can offer me,” he mocked her.

Seren threw her knife swiftly. Close enough to the demon’s face for her to feel a bit better; far enough so it wouldn’t count as attacking. Half the blade was buried on the headrest. A clear warning. It wasn’t the first time a demon got smart on her because they heard about the Pact and felt themselves untouchable.

“If that was true, you wouldn’t bother coming here just to gloat,” she snapped at the demon, her hand already missing the weapon.

“Oh, I do like you.” The demon laughed, amused. “You got me. You see, truth be told, I’m a bit worried about this little tournament. I can’t help but to have… favorites. Can’t really help it. There’s just… something about them that makes you wish they were the ones to win, you know? But there can be only one.”

“Get to the point.” Seren had crossed her arms, tapping her fingers.

“A bit anxious, aren’t we?” he mocked her. “Understandable, really.”

“My patience is growing thin, demon.” Seren growled.

“So? It’s not like you can exorcise me. Can you?” she gave him her most hateful glare as she hugged her arms closer to herself. “Sore subject? I’m sorry.” His smile said otherwise. “As I was telling you, I’ve got two favorites: your brother and Sam Winchester. Now, in case of them having a one-on-one. Who would win?”

“They wouldn’t fight each other.” Seren scoffed, a smirk of her own when she added, head high. “They’ll team up against you and kick your demon ass till next Sunday and back to Hell.”

“Oh, I’m sure of it. If they had the chance,” the demon admitted. “But this is not the case. I’ll tell you what would happen: Sirius would lose. He would die.”

Seren couldn’t help but flinch. It was plausible. Sam was a hunter, raised in the life. He probably knew how to fight since his school’s days. She was sure both Dean and John had made sure of it. Sirius only had some self-defense lessons she had given him the last year and a half on himself. Definitely not enough.

“Unless,” the demon continued, eyeing her uneasiness with satisfaction. “Your dear brother used his powers. I must say, premonitions against telekinesis sounds a bit unfair, but—” He clicked his tongue. “—luck is an ability in itself.”

“Sirius won’t use his powers to kill.” Seren’s stern and firm tone surprised even herself as she opened the back door and went outside. She needed fresh air. “And Sam wouldn’t kill Sirius. You are trying to mess with me for giggles. What I’m not getting is why bother to do so.”

“You might be right about those two,” Yellow Eyes had appeared besides her, leaning on the closed door, nodding in concession with his eyes closed, only hearing what he wanted. “But what about the other kids? Will they have the same reservations?” He made a pause before fixing her eyes on her with a twisted smile. “I don’t think so.”

“Stop beating around the bush and spit it out,” she hissed wit a glare.

“I’m just showing you the whole picture.” He raised his hands in mock surrender, his arrogant smile back on his face. “I’ve got a special deal for you. Do something for me and I set your brother free. How about that?”

“Too good to be true,” Seren eyed him, suspiciously. “Details.”

“A blank check from you. Any day, at any time, I’ll come cash it. Within the limits of the Pact, of course.” he added solemnly, hand over his heart. Seren couldn’t help but to scoff at that.

“You just said I have nothing to offer.”

“Not now,” the demon specified.

“And I will in the future?” Seren let out a dry laugh. “Seems a bit far fetched.”

“Then you have nothing to fear,” the demon grinned. “I set your brother free and you don’t have to pay back. It’s a win-win for you.”

There was never a win-win situation when a demon was involved. Seren knew that much for a fact. One had to be always careful with the fine print, or lack of there off. This deal was too sweet. _Seemed_ too sweet.

But there wasn’t much more she could do to get Sirius out of this mess. She didn’t trust the demon. There had to be an obvious catch she was overlooking, but she didn’t have much time as Yellow Eyes had started a countdown. When he reached zero, the offer would be null.

“An unnamed favor for Sirius’ freedom,” Seren stated, offering her hand to the demon when he had reached one. “Let’s get this over with.”

With a twisted smirk, Yellow Eyes took her hand and pulled her to him before kissing her lips to seal the deal. Seren pushed him away before he went overboard with it, cleaning her mouth with the sleeve of her shirt, the smell of sulfur already stuck in her nose. The demon laughed and snapped his fingers.

But nothing happened.

Seren looked around, panic and confusion going rampant inside of her even if her expression was in almost perfect check. She fixed her eyes on the smirking demon in front of her, glaring daggers at him with a snarl. He had tricked her and she had fell for it like a foolish rookie.

“Oh! You meant for me to set him free _here._ My bad,” the demon laughed before vanishing as if he had never been there. Except the sulfur.

Cursing loudly, Seren got back in the van. She didn’t have time to waste blaming herself for not thinking clearly enough and acting recklessly with a demon. It could have been worse, she would console herself thinking that later.

Haphazardly, she picked everything she needed for a location spell, the more accurate she had and got to work, extending the map before her and mixing herbs and powders and oil on a bowl before using it to trace symbols on the paper.

But it failed. As soon as it was ready, the whole map burst in green and blue flames before her eyes. She cursed some more as she put it out before something else caught fire.

Her breathing, shallow. Eyes brimming with tears of frustration. There was no time to panic. She had to think and she had to do it fast. Sirius safety depended on it.

There was only one thing better than any of her spells to locate someone, and _that_ was a hound. She snatched the knife from the headrest cleaned the blade on her clothes, more out of habit than because it needed it. After steadying her breath, she nicked one of her fingertips with the knife as she started whistling a soft tune, her eyes closed in concentration. Squeezing her finger so a generous drop of blood bloomed from the cut, she made it roll until it went over her nail, painting it crimson red. Once the song was over, she let herself fall into the mattress with a sigh, taking deep breaths and letting it out slowly, being careful her bloody nail didn’t touch anything.

Her eyes opened and fell on her phone, her hand reaching for it before being fully conscious of what she was about to do. Her fingers marked Dean’s phone number. Seren wasn’t even sure how she knew it from memory, but didn’t question it much. She put the device against her ear. One, two, three tones, and the call connected.

“Bring me some pie!” Seren heard the hunter yell before he mumbled to himself. “I love me some pie.”

“Dean,” she hated the way her voice sounded, what it reminded her.

“Seren?” There was some shuffling and she could practically see the hunter give his phone a confused look before asking, “What’s going on?”

“Yellow Eyes is on the move,” she blurted out, doing her best at keeping her tone under control. “Keep your eyes open.” She made a pause before adding in a breathless whisper, “Good luck.”

Dean tried to say something then, but she had already hung up, letting the phone slid from her grip. She was in no mood to argue with the hunter nor tell him what had happened, but warning him about the danger was the minimum she could do. If their situation was the other way around, she would have appreciated it at least.

There was a double thud and the van swung softly, as if something heavy had gotten inside with her. Seren sat up. There was nothing by the door. At least, nothing her eyes could see.

Something patted her leg to call her attention and she raised one hand towards it, the one with the bloody nail. A small smile graced her lips when she felt a few sniffs on her finger, before a broad tongue licked clean the blood. There was a low, protective growl before harsh fur touched her fingers, some scabs and burned skin hidden in between the fuzz grazing her fingertips as she caressed its head, feeling for its ears to give a little scratch behind them.

There was only one thing better than her spells when she needed to track anything.

Her ace on her sleeve.

Her hell-hound.


	12. Chapter 12 — Hurry

Seren should have listened to Bobby’s suggestion of getting a better engine for Camille. She was forcing the poor van to her max speed and it didn’t even reach the bloody speed limit. She had though it was a safe option when she had picked it all those years ago. Why would she ever need to go so fast anyway?

For when a bloody demon dropped her brother in the middle of bloody nowhere, South Dakota, making her cross almost half the country to get him out of a bloody battle royal that decided who would lead a bloody demon army. That’s why.

Her lack of speed wouldn’t be really an issue if her hell-hound could have reached to where Sirius was. Or, at least, not one so nerve wracking. That had been part of her plan: Caleb would find Sirius and protect him from any menace until she got there. Didn’t matter what kind of powers the other special children could have, a hell-hound was still a hell-hound.

But Yellow Eyes had been prepared, it seemed. Caleb could only circle the area Sirius was in. Something kept him out. A barrier of sorts, or other hell-hounds keeping watch, or maybe something completely different. Seren didn’t know and didn’t have time to check.

Her mind kept going to the worst case scenarios, and she kept trying to find ways to avoid them or, at least, lessen the damage. Her only constant was getting Sirius out of it. Alive. She didn’t care about the other kids, victims of the demon’s plan. Not one bit.

A pair of hazel eyes and a dimpled smile flashed in her mind, a reminder that Sam was one of those kids too. With a pang of guilt, Seren forced herself to focus on her objective. As long as Sirius lived, she didn’t care what happened to the others. She shouldn’t care.

In an attempt to drown all her thoughts, Seren raised the volume of her radio, Metallica’s _St. Anger_ booming thought the speakers.

 

* * *

 

It was already night when she reached where her hell-hound was, still a good distance from where the demon had left her brother. Caleb growled deeply, frustrated or as a warning for her to be careful, when she passes past him. After letting out a chilling howl, the hound was gone.

Out of nowhere, Seren felt something had struck her on the head. Hard. She had almost hit the wheel with her forehead and nose, her vision blackening for a moment as she stomped on the brake on reflex. One of her hands went to where she had felt the hit, checking for blood or any sort of tender spot even if she already knew there would be none. That pain wasn’t hers, after all. It was Sirius’.

He was badly hurt.

Shaking away the slight dizziness, Seren kept driving. She came to a stop before the entrance of what seemed to be an old ghost town. A shiver went down her spine. The place was hunted for sure. Perfect place for the demon’s little showdown.

As she reached for the handle to get out, another fierce hit struck her, this time on the side. She doubled over, short breathed as her hand went to cover her ribs, a piercing pain blooming there.

She had to hurry.

A pair of vehicles caught her eye when she passed the dilapidated sign with the town’s name. Dean’s Impala and Bobby’s tow-truck. She was impressed they had found the place on their own so soon, but didn’t have much time to wonder how they could have done so as Dean’s screams torn the silence in shreds, calling Sam’s name at the top of his lungs.

Her legs moved on their own, following Dean’s voice as fast as they could take her while she tried to remain calm, the heavy weight on her chest, and the ghost pain on her head and side not helping at the task.

If she knew Sam and Sirius enough, they would have stayed together during the whole ordeal, so her brother shouldn’t be too far away. Hopefully, they would have taken care of each other. Both boys might be a bit worn out and Sirius injuries wouldn’t be as serious as she had felt them. He would even crack his stupid puns as she patched him up.

She should’ve known better than to hope.

Dean was on the ground, crying, calling Sam’s name over and over as he held him. The younger Winchester didn’t answer. He lay immobile in his brother’s arms.

Frantic, Seren looked around, her breath gone shallow. Then, she saw Sirius, stumbling away from where the Winchester’s were, holding onto everything in his way to keep walking. Farther away, Seren spotted Bobby running after someone she didn’t get to see. Sirius was trying to follow them.

She called for him as she went towards him. If he heard her, she couldn’t tell. He didn’t turn. He stood still, unstable on his feet. Feeling unsure, Seren approached him slowly, reaching his side just in time to hold him up before he fell to the ground as one of his knees gave up. Seren inspected Sirius’ injuries or, at least, the ones she knew of. The ones she had felt. Still felt.

He had taken a nasty hit on the head, his hair matted with his own blood. Seren didn’t know how he could still be conscious. His side was bruising already and she was sure he had several fractured ribs and at least one was broken.

She would have to take him to a hospital. No discussion.

“We have… We have to stop Jake.” Sirius slurred, shaking his head when she made him turn around to take him to Camille. “He stabbed Sam, Seren. Sam. Is he… Is Sam okay? Will he be okay?”

Seren didn’t know what to tell him. She had promised to never lie to him, but sometimes the truth did more harm than good. With the intention to stick to her promise, she stole a glance towards the Winchesters, but what she saw wasn’t encouraging. Taking in the tense expression on Seren’s face as she tried to find anything non-fatalistic to say, Sirius got the answer to his question. His eyes brimmed with tears.

“He helped me,” Seren heard him whisper. “He saved me.”

“Dean!” the girl forced herself to call. No reaction. “We are going to a hospital,” she told him anyway, her clumsy way of offering a ride.

The hunter remained silent and Sirius was leaning more of his weight on her the more they stood still. With a sigh and a huff, Seren adjusted her hold on Sirius and resumed her way to Camille, almost carrying him.

After sitting her brother on the passenger seat, strapping his seat belt and buckling it, Seren hurried to get on the drivers seat and started the engine. With one last glance back, she got on the road to the closest hospital she could find.

“I could have killed Jake, you know? I had a chance.” Sirius started babbling, as if sleep talking. With the hit he had taken to the head, it was a good sign that he was conscious and coherent. “If I had just—” He made a motion with his hand. “—flung that stupid knife with my powers, Sam would still be alive.”

“Why didn’t you?”

She had made him promise to don’t use his powers except in emergencies. A live or die situation like that certainly qualified as such. He could have incapacitated the guy just with his powers or with the knife if needed. And, if it had gotten so ugly of a situation where he needed to go for the kill, it would be justified self-defense. Not perfect, but he would be fine. Maybe even Sam would be.

“I was afraid,” Sirius sobbed. “One of us… Ava. She… She killed the others.” Sirius hiccuped before hissing, holding his side. Seren felt a pressure on her chest that wasn’t hers. “She told Sam. How her powers became stronger the more she used them. She told him how each kill made it easier. In the end, she even enjoyed it. The power. The killing.

“Jake killed Ava. Twisted her neck before she hurt Sam.” Sirius let out a dry laugh, hissing once more in pain. “I thought we were safe then. That we could get out of there. But Jake listened to Yellow Eyes. Only one alive.”

He wasn’t finished with his story, Seren could tell, but the pause he made was stretching too long. Taking a glance to her side, she saw him lean his head on the window, eyes closed. She jabbed his arm, a bit harder than intended, and prompted him to continue. She had to make sure Sirius remained awake the whole trip.

“He appeared in my dreams too, you know?” His breath was labored, as if each intake of air was painful. She had to hurry. “The demon, I mean.” he continued. “Told me the same. That we were his chosen and that the best of us would lead his demon army. He also said I was one of his favorites. That I had… potential.”

Another long silence. When Seren side-glanced this time, she found Sirius half-lidded, tear glistening eyes fixed on her as he tried to find his words. She tried to swallow the knot that had formed in her throat, eyes fixed on the road before them. She said nothing, only giving Sirius a slight nod to show him she was listening, waiting for him to continue when he could.

“After hearing that, what Ava said, and then Jake, ready to kill us so he could go. I… It reminded me of the bracelet incident,” he said in a whisper. “It had been so easy to sentence Lucy. I was so sure she was a shapeshifter I had no regards about killing her. It was justified, right? Kill the monster or it keeps killing. It shouldn’t have been so easy for me to accept, curse and power high and all.” he coughed a dry laugh. “Hell, I almost killed you for getting in the way that day.”

“Like I would have died so easily,” Seren couldn’t help but to scoff in a crude, tactless attempt at lightening the mood.

Luckily, they were siblings, both sharing that awkward and inappropriate sense of humor when in tense situations. Sirius chuckled softly, careful to don’t move too much and hurt himself. His skin looked pale.

“I was afraid just using my powers might be enough to… change me. Add that I might have had to kill Jake with them. I would have gone dark side for sure,” he confessed with a faltering breath. “Then, after killing Jake, I would reconsider Yellow Eyes words and go ‘hey, why not?’ and murder Sam off the bat.

“So I hesitated, Sam saved me, and Jake stabbed him,” Sirius head was resting against the side window again, his breath shorter. “Sam died because of me.”

“Don’t you dare disrespect him like that,” Seren couldn’t help but to scold him. She had no idea how to console him, but she was certain of something, “Sam didn’t die because of you, he choose to help you because he felt it was the right thing to do. It was his choice to help you and face the consequences of doing so. And you didn’t kill him, that Jake kid did.”

Sirius tried to contradict her, but she cut him off before he could, “And, above everything else, none of you would have been there in the first place if it wasn’t for Yellow Eyes.

“I know you feel guilty. It’s… It’s normal. Survivor’s guilt.” she forced herself to add. “It gets easy. With time.”

Not always.

Seren waited, expecting a sarcastic comment from Sirius or a sardonic laugh, but getting nothing. Quickly, she stole a quick glance his way. Eyes closed, paler by the moment, breathing too shallow and labored.

“Hey! Don’t fall asleep,” she called, her voice more frantic and high than what she wanted. She had to keep calm if she didn’t want to scare Sirius even more than he already was.

“But I’m tired, Seren.” He whined without opening his eyes. “I’m so tired.”

“You know the rules: no sleeping when shotgun. It makes me sleepy too” Sticking to the truth, details were unimportant. “Do you want us to crash?”

“Just blast some Metallica as always,” Sirius mumbled.

Quickly, not stopping to think it twice, Seren felt about the radio before ripping part of it and throwing it out the window. After making sure, the power button was gone with whatever part she tossed, she said, “Radio’s broken.”

She saw Sirius giving her an incredulous—and a bit alarmed—look but said nothing.

“No sleeping,” she repeated, clearing her throat. “There’s no radio, so sing something. No lullabies.”

“You are no fun,” Sirius laughed.

Seren knew what he would sing before she had even asked him. Sirius never had a musical memory, always messing up rhythms and lyrics around, turning whatever song he was trying to sing into a weird remix-mashup. All songs except one, _Always Look on the Bright Side of Life_ from Monty Python’s _Life of Brian_. Normally, it was funny when he reached an eternal loop at the end, whistling and singing the tittle over and over until she begged him to stop.

She wouldn’t do it this time. He could hardly whistle, his words breathier by the moment, but it was keeping him awake at least. When the words started to become slurred, she tried to give him conversation, remembering the first months after leaving Stanford and how awkward they were around each other. Almost a decade apart could do that. How bickering like when they were kids had made it better in no time.

Sirius kept going then, commenting some cases and recriminating her how stubborn she had been about leaving him out of her jobs. How he had wanted to be of some help and not just a burden she had to take care of. His words were becoming more like mumbles, his sentences loosing coherence as if some parts went missing when he said them out loud.

At some point, he noticed her tensing when he flinched in pain and decided to test it by touching his ribs. Seren sent him a warning look to stop hurting himself just to see if she felt it too. He already knew she did. Since kids. He joked about their sibling bond being so strong that she even felt his physical pain. She said nothing, but knew that it wasn’t that. She had always avoided looking into it.

Then, he remembered leaving a message on her phone before the demon got him. He tried to recall what he had wanted to say then. Something urgent enough to call and not just text. Something that was extremely important for her to know. But nothing came to his mind as his words became even more confusing, as if in a delirium. His eyes were closed and his lips were tinted bluish.

Seren should have listened to Bobby when he had told her to pick a better engine for Camille.

 

* * *

 

Seren kicked open the dilapidated shack’s door with all her contained wrath. It flew open, one of its hinges breaking, hitting the wall with a rebound. She stopped it with her foot before it hit her back, and stomped inside.

After taking a look around, Seren left the box in her hand at her feet before tossing around what was left of the furniture, most of it moth eaten. She did so carelessly and harshly, wood breaking against the walls, some even going through already broken windows.

Once there was a clear space right in the middle of the room, she went back to her box, kicking away a chair’s broken leg from her way. She took a big piece of chalk from the box and went back to the middle of the room. She knelt there and started drawing a summoning circle. The same she had found in the boiler room of a certain hospital. The one John Winchester had drawn. The one meant to summon Yellow Eyes.

Seren was furious and itching to exchange a few pleasantries with that twisted thing. This time, under her own terms.

“Not a smart move, poppet.”

“I don’t give a damn,” she hissed, tracing the last line of the symbol with a harsh movement.

After throwing the chalk back into the box and shaking the dust from her hands, she turned, her arms crossed and head high. She had a constant frown on her face since she had left the hospital where she had taken Sirius. Kicked out would be a better wording of what had happened, but that didn’t matter at the moment.

A slightly round man with dark hair stood at the threshold. He was adjusting his tie, his brown eyes scanning the place with a disgusted look. Seren’s lips twitched up involuntarily at seeing him so out of his element. He certainly didn’t favor this kind of rundown places. He was too into luxury to be even seen in places like that without a reason. You had only to look at his hand tailored suit to know that.

“If you have a job for me, my phone still works.” Seren sighed, trying to keep in check her mood. Her plan might not be smart, as he had said, but crossing two powerful demons would be worse.

“I’m here to warn you, poppet.” He said, sounding bored.

“How kind of you, sir.” Seren couldn’t help the sarcasm as she kept working on the ritual.

What she really wanted to say was something along the lines of how important her, or the warning, must be for the King of the Crossroad to come deliver it in person. That would certainly irritate him way more than some offhanded sass.

“If you proceed with this,” he vaguely motioned for the summoning circle. “The Pact is off.”

There was a loud crash as Seren threw the ceramic bowl she was using to mix the ingredients against a wall on a side. She was up on her feet in an instant, her breath ragged, blood boiling. She closed her eyes. Deep breaths. Once, twice, three times. Expression in check, frown gone. She passed her hands through her hair to tame it and get it out of her face.

“Why?” Seren asked, voice eerily calm after her outburst. “It’s not like I plan to harm him. How could I?” She remarked bitterly, “It will be just… a courtesy summoning. To talk and exchange banal pleasantries. I could even prepare some tea or bring some aperitifs.” The salty kind.

The demon laughed. Seren was sure he could guess the words she hadn’t said.

“Boss orders, poppet.” he shrugged. “You know how she can be.”

“No, I don’t.” Seren started braiding her hair loosely, needing to keep her hands busy. “Haven’t met her yet.”

“You might soon,” he told her with a smirk that sent a shiver down her spine. “Remember, poppet. No interfering.”

And with that, he was gone leaving a hint of sulfur behind.

Seren felt a sudden urge of getting out of there. If she stayed, she might be tempted to continue the summoning and she was in no way prepared to pay the price. She didn’t even bother to clean up. It wouldn’t be the first nor the last shack where a bunch of teenagers decided it would be cool and fun to play with the occult while getting drunk.

Feeling defeated, Seren sat behind Camille’s wheel and rested her forehead on it, trying to think where to go. She would like to go back to the hospital, to be close by in case Sirius needed anything. Problem was that Draco, Lyra’s twin, had gone there as soon as the hospital had called him. It seemed he was one of Sirius’ emergency contacts.

As soon as her youngest brother had gotten there, he had kicked her out with just an accusing glare and the promise of a fight if she even dared to get close to him or Sirius’ room. For Draco, everything that happened to their family was her fault.

Seren let out a dry laugh. He wasn’t completely wrong.

Turning on the engine, Seren decided it would be more helpful for everyone to go to Bobby’s and check on the general situation. How they were dealing with Sam’s loss. Maybe she could find a way to lend a helping hand through some loopholes. Demons weren’t the only sneaky ones.

Either way, she needed to find a new radio for Camille and search for a better engine. No way in hell would she go through a similar situation again because her van was too slow to reach wherever she needed to be.

It had been sheer luck that Seren had gotten Sirius to a hospital just in time. The medics had said so when they were examining him. Fractured ribs, two of them broken, one of the fragments had perforated one of his lungs. But the blow Sirius had taken on his head had been the worst of all. If she had thought it a miracle he was conscious, the medics had said the miracle was that he was alive at all. Last thing Seren knew about her brother’s state before Draco arrived, was that Sirius had fallen into a coma. The doctor’s limited themselves to say they had to wait. To see how his state evolved.

To wait for him to die.

Seren cursed herself. Her and her great idea of breaking the stupid radio so it wouldn’t be a lie it didn’t work. Now she was forced to sit in silence with her thoughts, no music to drown them out.

 

* * *

 

Bobby wasn’t home, so she let herself in. The old man would give her an earful about how she shouldn’t break in his house when he got there. It wasn’t like she actually broke anything to do so. She simply picked the front door’s lock or the back door’s. Usually the front door. And she was sure the old man kept a spare key hidden somewhere, like almost everybody else. Also, if he really didn’t want her getting in, he would have improved his home security by now with a snap of his fingers. He was a resourceful man after all.

Seren was tired, too tired. Drained would be a better term, to be honest, and the persistent migraine that had settled in her head wasn’t helping. As soon as she entered the house, she navigated with her eyes closed to the studio. Bobby had a room upstairs for her to crash whenever she would need it, but she felt her steps too unsteady to climb the stairs without falling.

Feeling her way around, she found the sofa under the window and, unceremoniously, let herself flop on it with a heavy sigh. She didn’t really have an explanation for it, but that was her favorite spot of the house. Specially when Bobby was sitting on his desk, buried in lore books and what not, grumbling as he helped hunters all around the country. He hardly ever asked her for help on research, but she always tried to give a hand around anyway. Just little things, like leaving something to drink and eat close to him when he got too distracted, or casually leaving books open on the right page when he started going in circles. The former happened more often than the later, to be honest. Bobby was a good man, he should take better care of himself.

It was a curious thing that, in this house, Seren didn’t need any noise to distract her from her thoughts. Here, they calmed down on their own, no need to drown them with music.

Taking a deep breath in, she got comfortable, careless taking off her boots, and rolling to face the back of the sofa. She covered her head with her hood and curled up in a ball.

Seren fell asleep almost instantly.


	13. Chapter 13 — Impasse

Her migraine woke her up.

Seren turned around on the sofa so her back was to the window. She adjusted her hood before hugging a cushion to her face, to block any light that dared hit her eyes. It was already getting dark, and still that dim light bothered her and her migraine as if she had a hangover. If asked, she would deny it, but she wished for Sirius’ tacky pink sunglasses to magically appear, and protect her eyes for the evil clarity of the day.

Just when she thought that had done the trick and she could resume her nap, a wave of nausea hit her. It made her retch hard enough for her to sit up, ready to sprint to the bathroom in case she had to throw up. Not that she had anything in her stomach. When was the last time she ate, anyway.

Getting up had been the wrong move. Or, at least, to do so too fast. The pain flared and the room started to spin, bringing with it more nausea. Seren quickly closed her eyes, tightly, before her vision provoked her to retch again due the vertigo. She lowered her head between her knees trying to keep her breathing steady. One hand went to her forehead, checking for a fever, while the other to rubbed the back of her neck soothingly, a vain attempt to alleviate the pain.

It kept growing. The pressure in her skull increasing by the second. Even as she was, sitting and bent over, she felt like she was going to fall to the floor. She was going to pass out.

Suddenly, the pain disappeared. Simply vanished. All gone, as if it had never been there to begin with.

Dubious and confused, Seren raised her head, opening her eyes. The dim light didn’t bother her anymore and the room had stopped spinning. With a frustrated frown, she took off her hood, her fingers caressing over where the center of the pain had been, getting tangled in her hair.

Her eyes widened in realization. The back of her head. The same spot where Jake had hit Sirius. It had not been a migraine. That had been Sirius’ pain. Internal hemorrhage? And it was gone, without a trace. Nothing.

A knot formed in Seren’s throat. She knew what it meant. She had felt something similar before, when the pain simply disappeared. Because it didn’t hurt. Not anymore.

Sirius was dead.

Her eyes brimmed with tears, making her vision blurry. She felt them run down her cheeks when she blinked. They dripped from her chin to the floor. She let them fall, not bothering to dry them. Even if her eyes shred tears, her expression was neutral. Calm. Numb.

Her ears picked up a whisper of her name, a familiar voice calling it from her side. Softly. Shaky. Unsure.

She didn’t need to turn to know who it was.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Seren forced her words to sound harsh as she let the last tear fall. “You die, you move on. No lingering.”

“You are no fun,” Sirius complained like a petulant child. “Here I was, preparing a heartfelt speech to console my grieving big sister. Just like in that cheesy TV show where—”

“Stop joking around, will you?” Seren cut him with a growl. “Please, I… I just… I can’t, Sirius. I just can’t.”

She covered her eyes with her hands, her elbows resting on her knees. She didn’t think she could ever face him. Not now, not ever. But there he was, cracking jokes as if being dead was nothing. There was so many things she wanted to do for him, to bring him back, but she could do none.

“Hey,” Sirius called softly. “If this is about what Draco said at the hospital, he is wrong and a jackass with a stick up his ass.”

“He didn’t say anything to me,” Seren commented, head tilted to a side as she gave him a confused look.

She had seen her share of ghosts. Old and new. Benign and malign. She knew how they looked. So, when she had turned to look at Sirius, she hadn’t expected for him to look as corporeal as he did. His dark brown hair was loose, framing his face and almost gracing his shoulders. His beard practically hid his lips but not the small smile he was giving her. His dark eyes were clear even if sad. He looked slightly paler than when he was alive, but not transparent as new ghost tended to. Most couldn’t even barely manifest.

“Really?” Sirius looked truly surprised. “Nothing at all? Then forget I said anything.”

“He gave you an earful of all the ‘pretty things’ he thinks about me. Didn’t he?” Seren couldn’t help but to laugh at his grimace.

Sirius groaned, before recalling the old times, when Draco would follow them everywhere like a cute little brother. Seren caught herself closing her eyes, pretending if only for a moment that her brother was really there, alive and recalling old time.

“Just to make it crystal clear. Because I know how that brain of yours works. This?” Sirius motioned to himself. “Me being dead? Is not your fault. You hear me? You did everything you could. I know you did. You can’t save everybody.”

“I’m not that good of a person.” Seren scoffed. “I’m a selfish little thing that only cares for me and mine.”

And she couldn’t even protect that properly.

“Didn’t a reaper come for you?” she asked him, suddenly remembering he had a ride to take.

“Yeah, they are right there.” Sirius gave her a confused look, motioning to the studio’s main door. “Can’t you see them?”

Seren looked towards the studio main entrance, where Sirius had signaled, but saw no one there.

At first.

When she was about to tell him to stop joking, she thought she saw a dark suited figure standing before the door. It disappeared again when her eyes tried to focus on it, so she centered her attention elsewhere but close enough to that spot. After a moment, she could vaguely make out straight long black hair and a dark skinned face. Their stance was formal and firm, professional.

As far as Seren knew, reapers were neutral creatures. They did their assigned task of delivering the souls of the dead to where they belonged and nothing more. She hadn’t met one before, only heard some stories of people, specially witches, trying to bind them. It never ended well for the ones doing the binding.

Unsure of how one should behave before a reaper, Seren gave a slight nod in their direction as a form of greeting. To her surprise, the reaper returned the gesture.

“They kept me company at the hospital,” Sirius told her, getting her attention away from the reaper. “They were better conversation than Draco there. Did you know I was supposed to die when I was seven?”

Sirius let out a good guffaw at her startled look, eyes wide and mouth open, and the high pitched exclamation that escaped her lips. If he still had a physical body, Seren would have slapped the back of his neck or punched his arm to make him shut up.

“Remember that time I fell from the tree house? Mom and dad had taken the twins to the doctor, I think.” Seren nodded, a vague memory coming to her mind. “Nasty fall. Didn’t break my neck by sheer luck, but still hit my head pretty bad.” Sirius paused, tapping his chin, thoughtful. “It’s kind of ironic that I was supposed to die from hitting my head, only to die from _someone_ hitting my head.”

“It hadn’t been that bad,” Seren shook her head. “You just had a scare and a scratch.”

She didn’t like the sad look, Sirius was giving her. It was the look one gives when they see a person trying to convince themselves of a story they made up.

“It was bad, Seren.” Sirius told her, slowly. “But you saved me.”

There was a loud scoff as Seren shook her head, incredulous.

“Right after I fell, even before I started crying, you where already there, by my side, all scared and worried out of your tiny little mind,” he let out a chuckle at the memory. “Do you remember what happened next?”

She didn’t. There was a blank. It bothered her, and the way Sirius had his eyes fixed on her wasn’t helping. As if there was more he had to tell her, but wouldn’t. She didn’t like it. It scared her. Him telling her. Him not telling her. She didn’t know which scared her more.

“You went completely calm,” Sirius said, his voice a mix between awe and sadness. “You held both my hands,” he did as he was telling, a ghostly cold touch on her skin. “And then, you closed your eyes, telling me to do the same.”

On the corner of her vision, Seren saw the reaper move slightly. Something was happening and she had no idea what it was. Mouth dry, she centered her attention back on Sirius, his eyes closed, waiting for her to do the same, just as he had narrated.

A part of her mind told her that something was wrong, that she would regret it, while another seemed thrilled to see where this was going on. Sirius let out a breathy laugh at her hesitation, taking a little peek at her with one eye before nodding. Deciding to trust her brother, even if previous experiences told her not to—too many pranks—, Seren closed her eyes with a deep breath.

“Then,” Sirius resumed. “You kisses my forehead.” His lips brushed hers. She expected a cold sensation, much like when he caught her hands, but it felt warm. “And started humming.” And so did he.

The song felt familiar, nostalgic even, but Seren couldn’t recognize it. When she tried to place it, a tingling sensation distracted her. It started at her fingertips and went though her hands, running up her arms and dissolving on the rest of her body. It left a cool sensation behind, comforting, and as familiar as the humming somehow.

“What was that?” Seren whispered, feeling a little lightheaded. New tears formed in her eyes.

“A fragment of yourself, going back home” Sirius’ voice said in a hushed tone. “You gave it to me. To heal me. To save me. It’s what connected us. Now, I’m giving it back.”

Her thoughts were all over the place, but Seren forced herself to remain calm, to organize them.

Her attention had first gone to his tale. How, supposedly, she had healed him. It didn’t make sense. She had been ten years old back then and, whatever power she had, would have been too weak, not to say her powers had never been the healing kind—that she knew. Sure, Seren had learned to cast spells and craft some healing charms, but they only served as a way to slow down the damage or boost the natural process of healing. No singing nor chanting and the pain was gone as if it had never been. None worked like that. Some may seem to but there were always side effects. No exception.

Then, her focus went to the humming. A familiar melody without lyrics even if she felt it had them, and that she should know them by heart. But nothing came to mind, not even the language it was supposed to be in.

And that fragment thing. That was the weirdest part and she took note to investigate about it later.

However, all those thoughts went straight to the back of her mind when she centered her attention on Sirius’ ghostly and cold touch on her hands. Slowly, Seren shifted their hands so hers rested atop Sirius’. With a frown, her fingertips started exploring his palms, shakily, running softly over the back of his hands, going up to his wrists. Then, she closed her fingers around them in a loose yet firm grip.

“You are not Sirius,” she said in a shaky breath.

“Oh, but I—”

“Drop the charade,” Seren cut off, almost growling and tightening her grip. “Or I’ll bind you.”

“You lack the means,” they hissed, Sirius’ voice gone. “And the will.”

Seren opened her eyes, fixing them on her hands and the hold they had on dark skinned wrists, a few shades darker than hers. She let them go as if shocked, the feeling of the reaper’s mind, now unrestrained, unnerved her. It was cold and detached, too different from Sirius. She should have realized sooner about the trick.

With their arms free, the reaper adjusted the white cuffs of their white shirt under the sleeves of their black suit. Seren could see them clearly now, their face framed by straight deep black hair. Their dark eyes, lined with vague wrinkles, were fixed on her with an appraising look, thin perfectly shaped eyebrows raised at her with a certain defiance.

“You are right: I lack the will.” Seren admitted offhandedly. The means were easy to find. “What was all that about?”

“Sirius’ idea,” The reaper answered as if giving a report. “Each word I said came from him,” they assured sensing her building protest. “He wanted to come himself, but knew you would—and I quote—‘kick his ectoplasmic ass to the afterlife if he missed his ride’ so he asked me to deliver this message. Word by word. He also said you should ‘stop being a stubborn bastard’ and go see your mother.”

“And you, a reaper, just rolled with it?” Seren couldn’t help being incredulous about it.

“A break out of the routine it’s refreshing from time to time,” they nodded solemnly. “He almost made me write down a full script so I wouldn’t forget any ‘heartfelt moment’ he had envisioned.”

“He always loved a good drama,” Seren chuckled, shaking her head. “But making up all that is just—“

“It’s not made up.” The reaper interrupted. Seren would have preferred for them to mock her instead of the grave look they were giving her. “All that I told you is true. Each and every word. Sirius wasn’t supposed to live this long.”

A cold shiver ran down Seren’s spine. Their voice had a certain accusation on it, a reproach for playing with life and death and their balance. For messing with their job.

“That wasn’t the plan for him,” they shook their head, as if disappointed. “You changed that when you gave him that fragment.”

“A fragment of what?” Seren asked, starting to get slightly annoyed and frustrated.

“Weren’t you listening?” the reaper gave her a look of contempt. “A fragment of yourself.”

Seren opened her mouth to ask for specifics when the loud noise of an engine outside distracted her. She turned towards where the front door was with a start. She heard a car door been slammed shut, footsteps stomping to the door and someone cursing as they fumbled with the keys.

Bobby was home.

There was a shift in the air. Seren didn’t need to look besides her to know that the reaper had vanished. If they were truly gone or simply had made themselves invisible, she couldn’t tell. Nor mind. It was clear they wouldn't answer her questions.

“Seren?” Bobby called from the entrance.

“In the studio,” she called back, leaning on the sofa with her eyes closed for a moment, trying to file everything the reaper had told her.

She had a whole lot of research to do, it seemed.

The old man stomped into the room, stopping on his tracks when he saw her. His steps sounded softer as he approached her, and she raised her head to look at him.

Bobby’s face was wrinkled with sadness of his own and worry. Seren had a hunch it had to do with Dean’s state more than whatever Yellow Eyes’ plan was about. Even still, he had some gap between his worries to ask how she was doing.

“Sirius is dead,” she blurted, tactless and matter-of-fact, as a last tear ran down her face. “And Camille needs a new radio and a better engine.”

 

* * *

 

Sam had died that night at the haunted town and Dean refused to accept it. The Roadhouse was gone, burned to the ground by demons. Ash was dead, and Ellen was presumed to be too.

The news made Seren’s stomach turn and close after taking one small bite of the sandwich Bobby had made for her. She promised to finish it later when he gave her a worried look.

The next day, and after getting some points about what she had to look for on the new engine, Seren got to work, leaving Bobby to dig more information about whatever the demons had in store now that they had their champion to lead them.

A new radio was easy to find. Seren even found some with CD players so she no longer needed to record her new music on a tape to play it on the road. The engine though, even with Bobby’s notes, was a harder task. She would definitely need his help for this, but the demon business was priority. Camille’s upgrade would have to wait.

Not wanting to be idle, Seren went back into the house, to the studio, with the idea to give Bobby a hand. Looking around some research didn’t count as interfering. Her stomach grumbled in protest when she passes the fridge, so she picked up her sandwich.

The old man was deep in his research. So far, he found that demonic omens where on the rise, specially in the Wyoming area. But not all of it. There was a spot, on the south, free of any sign of demon presence on it but heavily surrounded by it. Two options came to Seren’s mind at that: or the demons where preparing for an attack, a siege; or they simply couldn’t go in there, a barrier keeping them out. In the first scenario, there was something there that was a menace to them and wanted it gone. In the second, there was something they wanted but couldn’t get it. Not yet.

There was a knocking at the front door and Bobby went to open. Seren heard low voices, but couldn’t make out who the newcomers were. Curious, she stuck out her head through the studio's threshold as she took a bite of her sandwich. She choked on it, coughing loudly, and getting the attention of the three men at the entrance.

Dean was there, Sam standing by his side. Alive.

Still coughing, Seren took a look around, at the men, trying to assess the whole situation and how she should act.

Sam seemed surprised for seeing her there, a small sad smile on his face, surely remembering Sirius state that night. He looked relaxed though—not counting the worry that she might choke on her food—, so Seren guessed he didn’t know he had been dead not long ago.

Dean was surprised of seeing her there too, but he recovered quickly, his green eyes sending her a warning before avoiding hers. That bloody idiot had done it now. Like father, like son.

Seren turned her attention to Bobby. He too had realized what the older Winchester had done and was biting his tongue, trying to act as if everything was normal.

So that was the consensus. Sam didn’t know Dean brought him back with a deal, and it would remain that way.

“Hey, Sam.” Seren greeted him with a smile when she finally stopped coughing. “Good to see you standing.”

“Yeah, Bobby did a great job patching me up.” So that was the official story. Noted. “Is Sirius—”

“Dead,” Seren cut him, sounding nonchalant, expression in check but her eyes betrayed her. “Yesterday, at the hospital. Internal bleeding in his skull. Doctor’s didn’t get it in time.”

“I’m sorry,” Sam was quick to apologize with a sad look.

“Could’ve been worse,” she shrugged. “He could have died before I got there. Sirius told me you saved him. Gave him a chance of surviving. You’ve my thanks for that.”

“And after this heartfelt moment nobody asked for,” Dean said with a roll of his eyes in Seren’s direction before turning to Bobby. “We’re back in it now, so… what do you know?”

That was Seren’s cue to make herself scarce. Bobby would fill the boys in, telling them about the demon activity and all that. If she stayed there, Dean would keep sending warning or wary looks her way, like he had done since he saw her there. He was guarded, surely convinced that she would let the cat out of the bag if only to mess up with him. As if she didn’t have better things to do. Like installing Camille’s new radio.

After a while, when she had finally finished untangling and connecting the wires, Bobby stormed out of the house, followed by Dean. Both looked tense. By Bobby’s expression, he was about to explode. Seren counted. One, two, three steeps. Then the old man turned around to face Dean, screaming in his face about what he had done and demanding to know how much time the crossroad demon had given him

Only a year.

Bobby reacted as if Dean had been stupid for accepting that, but Seren found it odd. Sure, normal deals had a standard of ten years before collecting the soul, so only getting one year seemed like a bad offer. But, if one took into account that the deal was to bring someone back from the dead, it might be the right price. After all, John’s deal had been even more restrictive, more demanding, and it didn’t include bringing Dean back to life after days of him being dead.

A clank came from behind Seren, bringing her back to the present, and also getting the men to notice her presence there, eavesdropping their conversation. Dean sent her a nasty glare, but Seren opted to ignore it as always, and went to investigate what had made that noise, making a signal for them to stay behind.

Stealthily, Seren went around the side of a car, surprising the intruder from behind. A blond woman she recognized instantly. But before she could warn the others, Bobby and Dean had already grabbed her.

Ellen.

She was shaken, but alive. Because they had run out of pretzels, she told them with a baffled laugh. And she brought new info with her, something Ash had left in a hidden safe in the basement. It was a map of Wyoming with several black lines and X’s on it.

After some digging around, Bobby found the X’s represented churches built by Samuel Colt, all of them connected with railways. Iron lines creating a giant Devil’s Trap, an old cemetery on its center.

That meant Seren’s second guess had been right and, after Sam’s mention that demons couldn’t go inside but Jake could, she had a hunch of what might be in there, so heavily protected.

“You coming with us?” Sam had asked Seren, taking her from her thoughts.

“No can do, jolly giant.” She had been warned. No interfering. But she couldn’t tell them that, so she opted for a different truth. “Jake, a human, killed Sirius. Since it wasn’t a demon, the Pact still stands.”

Hands still tied by the bloody fine print.

Dean scoffed at her, just as Seren had expected he would, shaking his head and muttering something she didn’t even bother to understand.

When they had a plan of action, the four hunters started to get everything ready as soon as possible. They wanted to get to the cemetery first, and ambush Jake there before he carried out Yellow Eyes’ plan.

As Seren watched them, her resolution to remain on the sidelines waved while the urge to join them increased. They were going to stop Jake, who had killed Sirius. They were going to face Yellow Eyes, who had orchestrated everything; who had tricked her into a deal that gave him a blank check from her part, while his side of the deal had been left too open for interpretation. And good advantage of it he had taken indeed.

Seren tried to think of safe ways to help them, to do _something_ , but Bobby had everything under control. They were going after demons after all, her worst subject and one of his many strong points.

She was useless to them.

When the group was ready to leave, Seren wished them all good luck at the door, assuring them she would be there unless an emergency job came. She almost forgot to ask Bobby which of his working cars she could borrow in case that happened, one faster than Camille and with a working radio. To say all of it felt awkward would be an understatement.

Ellen was the first to say her goodbyes, hugging her tightly. She took the chance to whisper in her hear so the others wouldn’t hear, asking Seren to keep an eye on Jo if anything where to happen to her. The girl limited herself to remind the woman that that kind of attitude brought bad luck.

Bobby was next. He also hugged her, but no whispered instructions. Holding her at arms length after, he reminded her that he better not come back to find his place made a mess. She took the chance to joke that she couldn’t make it more messy than it already was even if she tried. Bobby let out an idjit in a gruff as response before getting into his tow-truck.

Sam stood in front of her, his hazel eyes fixed on hers. When he opened his mouth to say something, Dean called for him, already besides the Impala, sending Seren one last glare before getting inside the car.

“Wait,” Seren stopped Sam, grabbing the hem of his shirt with two finger.

“Don’t worry,” Sam nodded with a smile. It looked a bit more twisted that she remembered it. “They’ll pay for what they’ve done.”

That wasn’t what she meant to tell him, not exactly. But when she opened her mouth to talk, an impatient honk from the Impala cut her off, making her scowl at its driver, who hit the horn twice in response.

Sam rolled his eyes exaggeratedly for her to see, a smile on his lips when she laughed at his gesture. After a tense silence, Sam gave her an awkward pat on her shoulder before hurrying to the Impala, riding shotgun.

Both cars came to life almost at the same time and left.

For once, Seren felt optimist about their chances of success. That all of them would make it back without trouble. But, oddly enough, that thought wasn’t as comforting as it should be. There was a bad feeling settled within her telling her that, even if they all came back in one piece, even if they defeated Yellow Eyes, something worst would cloud that victory.

Something so much worse.


	14. Chapter 14 — Aftermath

Seren hunches were always right.

The group of hunters came back. All alive, all in one piece. Bit bruised, sure, specially Dean, but nothing serious.

Jake was dead. Sam had killed him. Seren gave him a nod, thankful and solemn. She didn’t miss the worried look Dean gave to his brother when he had told her. It made Seren wonder how exactly had happened.

Yellow Eyes was dead too. Dean had been the one to put the last bullet from the legendary Colt thought his chest, finally avenging both their mother and their father.

Mission accomplished, little soldier.

It took Seren a moment to realize that, with Yellow Eyes gone, the deal she had made was null and void. The demon was dead. Really dead, not just sent back to hell, meaning that whatever plan he had for her, for the future, she didn’t need to worry about it anymore. At least not so much. And all thanks to Dean Winchester. She owed him a big one, not that she would tell him.

Then came the ‘but’ of their report.

The Gates of Hell had been opened.

The bloody Gates of bloody Hell. No wonder Samuel Colt had taken so much trouble to ward them. Jake had opened them, letting out thousands of demons out. A force so strong it had broken the Devil’s Trap that was supposed to maintain them in, just as it had kept the others out. Luckily enough, Ellen and Bobby had closed the gates before more could crawl their way out.

To resume, the Big Bad had been defeated but not before an army of demons had been let out on the loose, with no leader to control them, to contain them. All rogue, all dangerous. Unpredictable.

What did that mean to her Pact? There had been some rogue cases in the past, but she had had some support from her contractor. She trapped the rogues and he took care of them. But what if now it was too much trouble? Had her Pact been turned into scraps of paper without any notice because of this?

“Hey.”

Seren flinched, surprised. The screwdriver she was using slipped through her fingers, bouncing around before rolling down one of Camille’s seats. She cursed, loudly, chastising herself for getting startled, for getting too lost on her thoughts and not being focused on what she was doing: installing Camille’s new speakers.

Since her to-do list had grown in the last days, she had assigned them priorities. The first of them was getting Camille in perfect working conditions. Her phone had been silent—eerily so—but as soon as it went off with a job, she would have to get on the road, to wherever she was needed.

That had been her thoughts but, truly, she was procrastinating. The radio was installed and it worked perfectly with the speakers Camille already had, yet Seren had decided to change them in an impulse.

The van needed a new engine, not new speakers. But finding the later was easier than the former. Seren was completely lost in that field, and Bobby was buried deep in research and demonic omens. It made her feel selfish to ask him for help with her van when he was trying to save people from what had been unleashed.

In reality, even Camille’s upgrades shouldn’t be her top priority. If she needed to get somewhere, Bobby had already given her green light to pick any of his working cars and use it, even keep it. She would do that, use one of his cars, in case of an emergency job but it wouldn’t work long term. She _needed_ Camille. Without her van, she would be lost. Now more than ever.

“I said ‘hey’.”

“Heard you the first time, pretty boy.” Seren singsonged. With a sigh, she retriever the screwdriver from under the seat. “Just give me a moment.”

He let out a huff, mumbling complains to himself while Seren finished installing the speakers. She tried to convince herself, to drill it in her mind, that the engine was next, no matter what. No more delaying.

The speakers were all set. Now, she had to try them.

After digging around the glove box, she picked a CD, inserted it in the slit, and pressed the play button. The first notes of the first song started to play, but Seren pressed the next button. Once, twice, three times. Metallica’s _The Unforgiven_ flowed softly from the speakers. To Seren’s surprise, they did have a better sound than the old ones, and she couldn’t help but to lean back on the seat and close her eyes for a moment.

“Worth it,” she declared with a huge smile when the vocals started. That’s when she could really hear the improvement, every sound clearer than before.

Time to look for the new engine.

Or…

Or she could give Camille a full make over. Some new paint would be nice, both in and out. New lights wouldn’t hurt either. Sirius had told her at some point that they were too dim. And the brake’s pads. How could she forget to check the brakes pads! Or the brakes in general, for that matter. Before upgrading to a faster engine, she should check that the brakes worked properly and—

“Hey!” Dean practically shouted in her ear. “Stop ignoring me, princess.”

“For the last bloody time,” Seren growled, turning off the radio and storming off the van, almost hitting the Winchester with the door. “Stop calling me that!”

“Touchy, aren’t we?” he mocked her.

More like on edge.

A thought, a fear, crept back from where she had buried it in the deepest part of her mind. Without acknowledging it, Seren shoved it back into those depths, burying it under her ever growing to-do list. She needed to keep herself busy with anything or it would prowl back out for her. She couldn’t stop. If she did, it would overtake her.

“What do you want?” Seren snapped. She wasn’t even in the mood to be theatrical if only to mess with him back.

“Heard you needed help with your van,” Dean tried to sound nonchalant, rubbing his neck and nodding towards the vehicle.

Seren gave him a suspicious look, arching an eyebrow his way. Dean Winchester, the man that hardly could tolerate her mere presence in the same room—most of the time, at least—, not only had come to her but also was offering his help. Voluntarily.

She was about to ask if he had a fever, or if he had touched anything he shouldn’t have. There were some some cursed objects that could make him act like that. Just when Seren opened her mouth to articulate her questions, realization dawned on her, wicked grin appearing on her lip that made her eyes narrow in a smug expression.

“You are playing hooky,” she accused, pointing a finger at him and drawing circles in the air with it. “Is research so terrible that you would prefer to be here with me, pretty boy?”

“Shut up,” he mumbled and she laughed. “Just… Just tell me what needs to be done, okay?”

“Engine.”

Before she could say anything more, Dean had already opened Camille’s hood. He took a quick look around, checking and testing some parts, and tapping others. Once Dean was finished with his general inspection, he told Seren there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with it.

“You didn’t let me finish, pretty boy.” Seren signed with a lopsided smile. “Camille needs a new one. A faster one.” She added quickly before Dean could protest of wanting a new engine out of a whim.

At first, he gave her a confused look before turning back to the engine in Camille, to give it a second look, this time in more detail. Seren saw his brows furrow before he raised his eyes up at her, staring her with an expression she couldn’t read.

Seren looked away, feeling the sudden urge to apologize to the Winchester. Now he knew that, if the engine hadn’t been so limited, she could have gotten to where Yellow Eyes had dropped Sirius and Sam way sooner. She would have been there in time to stop Jake. The boy was no demon, so she wouldn’t be breaking the Pact, and the no-interference notice hadn’t been sent yet. Jake wouldn’t have attacked Sirius and Sam wouldn’t have protected him. Both boys would be alive and Dean wouldn’t have sold his soul to bring his brother back to life.

In a twisted way, her mind insisted that it was her fault Dean was going to hell in a year. And now he could be thinking the same.

_You did everything you could. I know you did._

Maybe Sirius was right. Maybe there had been nothing else she could have done. But what she had done, she should have done _better_.

“Let’s switch then,” Seren offered, clapping her hands in fake enthusiasm to snap both of them off their thoughts. “You take care of my sweet Camille’s engine as if she was the Impala, and I go in there,” she motioned to Bobby’s. “And do some research in your stead.”

“It’s demon research,” Dean remarked, crossing his arms and glaring at her. “Doesn’t your dear Pact forbid you from doing it?”

“Who said I’m gonna help with that?” She mocked him, a hand on her hip.

She would drop some hints if she found anything that helped the hunters, not like Dean needed to know that part, but she had her own research to do too. Second of her priorities just after getting Camille ready.

“Know what? No switching,” Dean shook his head. “Your car, your fix. I’ll help you find a better engine, but unless you’re willing to pay me for my services, you’ll install it yourself.”

“And what would be your price, pretty boy?” she purred, shifting her weight from one feet to the other, hand still on her hip.

Dean seemed taken aback by the question, eyes fixed on her slightly wider than normal, and Seren didn’t understand why. She just wanted to know how much it would cost her for him to install the new engine. What could be so confusing about that? As far as she knew, that would be a good deal and fair to pay him for his good work.

Bobby had told her how Dean had been stubborn enough to practically rebuild the Impala after the accident that had almost cost him his life. All by himself. Camille had taken her almost two years to get her to work properly, and only because both Bobby and _tía_ Rosa had helped her with all the mechanic aspects and whatnot. And she couldn’t have worked on her non-stop like Dean must have done, but that was another story.

With his abilities and the dedication he would put into it, the attention to each detail, Seren was sure Dean’s fee might be elevated, but completely worth it. He just had to name it, but he had been left completely speechless, it seemed.

“Dean?” she called for him, waving her hands to get his attention. “How much would it cost me?”

Suddenly, the hunter shook his head. By the confused look on his face, his thoughts had gone to somewhere he himself wasn’t sure how they had gotten there. Dean stared at her for a moment, his tongue pocking out to wet his lips as his stare seemed to be fixed on hers, lost in thought once more.

Seren called for him again, making his eyes snap to hers in surprise, like a kid doing something he wasn’t supposed to. Then, he glared at her with a huff before turning his attention back to Camille’s engine, mumbling about how, maybe, he could modify it to go faster instead of changing it completely.

By that point, Seren was completely lost, looking at Dean with her head tilted to a side, confused and worried about his weird behavior.

“You still haven’t set a price,” Seren noted, again.

“Forget it!” Dean grumbled, stomping around the junkyard. “Just… Just follow me and give me a hand,” he grumbled. “The sooner I finish this, the sooner you’ll be gone.”

“That’s true,” she shrugged with a nod.

 

* * *

 

“Do you know _anything_?” Dean practically shouted at her, frustrated after asking her to get him parts and tools by name, only for Seren to give him a confused look as she picked random stuff and showed it to him, wondering if that was it. “I thought you did this stupid van’s maintenance yourself.”

“Maintenance, I can do.” She glared with an annoyed pout, her arms crossed as she leaned on the side of Camille, watching Dean work. “But I know jack about engines and tools and parts and all that.” She motioned vague circles with her hand as she said so. “It all becomes a jumble in my brain.”

“How…” Dean’s confused face was amusing, specially when he scratched his nose, drawing a streak of grease from his cheek to his nose. She had snorted a laugh but said nothing. “Just _how_ can you do maintenance if you know _nothing_?”

“I’ve got a great intuition?” Seren shrugged.

After some more bickering, the hunter told her to get out of the way, practically barking at her to get her useless ass inside, and go do whatever witches did to be useful.

Feeling annoyed and a bit childish, Seren grabbed the moon pendant and sent the wrench Dean was about to pick up flying away from his reach. He complained, threatening to mess with Camille if she kept that shit up. Seren returned the threat, warning him that she could do much worse to the Impala if she wanted to.

“As you said, I’m a witch.” Seren declared with a theatrical half bow, arms extended to her sides and walking backwards to the kitchen’s door. “I could curse your precious car and you would be none the wiser, pretty boy.”

Before Dean could scream back at her, Seren closed the door, drowning part of the boy’s curses.

 

* * *

 

“You should stop doing that.”

Seren startled, slamming the fridge’s door closed. Bobby stood on the other side, giving her a scolding look that matched his tone.

“Making sandwiches?” Seren tried to play dumb, showing him the ingredients she was carrying in her hands and arms.

Bobby shook his head at her before motioning outside. Even from inside, they could hear Dean dutifully working on Camille’s engine, grumbling protests about it’s owner between the loud clanks and screeches of the tools he was using. Seren mouthed an ‘oh’ as if she didn’t know what Bobby had been talking about, still feigning some innocence.

“He started it,” she mumbled with a shy shrug, a bit ashamed. She appreciated the old man and hated to disappoint him. “If Dean, or anyone else, uses the fact that I’m a witch against me, I’ll bloody use it against them too.”

A tired sigh left Bobby’s mouth, taking Seren’s attention from the sandwich she was making to the old man. He looked too tired, bags under his eyes more pronounced than usual. He had been missing more sleep than he should with all the damn research. He took off his cap to rub his forehead before putting it back on, shaking his head.

Seren could feel the lecture coming as she finished the first sandwich. Since she was on it, she was going to do a small bunch to share. She was sure none of the men had realized it was past lunch time, and she had to soften things with Dean again, even if only for Bobby’s peace of mind. She knew he cared for the boys as if they were his own, so if her fights with the older Winchester got worse, she knew whose side Bobby would chose, and she didn’t want to lose him from some silly bickering that had escalated a bit too much.

When she finished the second sandwich and Bobby was still silent she turned to face him, puzzled. The knife she had been using to spread the butter fell to the floor as she bolted towards the kitchen’s dinning table. Swiftly she cleared all the notebooks and copies of papers she had scattered all over it, before trying to snatch from Bobby’s hands the notebook he was inspecting. But he took it away before she could reach it and kept reading it.

“Don’t,” Seren warned him. “Give that back, Bobby.”

He didn’t.

If it had been any other person, Seren would have used her powers to retrieve the notebook with a simple snap of her fingers. But it was Bobby, so she stood there, fretful, watching as he flicked through her notes, his brows furrowed.

“You still looking into this curse?” the old man asked, returning the notebook, worry and pity lacing his face.

Like she would ever stop.

“How many years has it been, Seren?” he asked, but Seren knew it was a rhetoric question. “You’ve—”

“Don’t say that I’ve done everything I could,” It came out as a weird mix between begging and growling. “Just… Don’t. Okay? It doesn’t make me feel better. In fact, it makes me feel much worse.”

Because everything she could do wasn’t bloody enough.

“Jethro wouldn’t want you to—”

“Are you his spokesperson now?” Seren cut him with a loud scoff and a scornful look.

A pang of guilt stabbed her chest when she saw the hurt expression that flickered though Bobby’s face. Frustrated with herself for taking it out on him when he was just worried about her, Seren apologized, sincerely, her eyes fixed on his. She didn’t look away until he acknowledged her apology with a nod and a faint smile.

With a relieved sigh, she went back to making sandwiches. She didn’t forget to pick up the knife from the floor and throw it in the sink to wash later.

“Did you find anything new?” the old mas asked, taking a seat.

“No,” Seren sighed in defeat, taking a seat too and placing a plate with a sandwich in front of Bobby while she already munched on hers. “So far, whatever bloody spell that bitch cursed Jethro with, only she can reverse it.”

The problem was, that witch wasn’t as stupid as Seren would have liked. After leaving her partner behind, surely as a distraction, she had fled, not only the country, but also the continent. Seren would bet she had even went to a different hemisphere. Australia, probably. She would be safer there even with all the deathly fauna.

Caleb had tried to hunt her down and bring her to his master, but the wrecked bitch knew her tricks. She had warded herself against hell-hounds, and had erased, or blocked, any other way Seren knew that could track her. Well, considering what Caleb had done to her partner after Seren got nothing out of them, it was no wonder the bitch had become so infuriatingly cautious.

“Bobby, I’ve got a case—” Sam stopped short at the door, a smile appearing when he saw Seren. “Hey, Seren.” He greeted her, passing a hand through his hair to get it out of his face.

“If you are hungry, those sandwiches have your name on them.” She motioned to the plate that had two and a half. “You are a big boy, thought you might need more substance to maintain that body.”

“Thank you.” Sam smiled, showing his dimples. “And the other half?” he asked as he took one free seat besides her.

“For your brother. Sort of a peace offering.” Seren grumbled. “Thought of making a bunch for him too, but he might throw them away saying I cursed them or something.”

“Don’t worry. He never throws food away,” Sam laughed. “And pie works better as a peace offering with him.”

“Dully noted.” Seren tipped an imaginary hat at him with a wink and they laughed.

Bobby cleared his throat, “Weren’t you saying you found a case?” he reminded the Winchester, giving him a funny look.

“What? Oh! Yeah, the… The case, of course.” he stuttered bashfully before filling them in with what he had found.

When Sam was done, Bobby got up, saying he knew of a good hunter that was closer to the area so they might be able to take care of the problem in the time it would take the boys to get there.

After waiting to hear the old man talking on the phone, Sam turned to Seren, a serious expression sobering his face. Before he opened his mouth to say anything, she stopped him with a motion of her hand.

“I know what you are gonna ask me, jolly giant.” She said with a sad smile, getting up with a sigh and taking the empty plates to the sink. “And the answer is no.”

“So that’s it?” There was a flash on anger in Sam’s eyes that took her by surprise. “Dean will go to hell in a year. There’s absolutely no way to change that?”

Seren opened her mouth to say that there were ways to do so. A crossroad contract was still a contract. It could be broken and pay the penalty for it. It could be bought and sold. And, if both sides agreed, it could be dissolved, as if it had never existed, no repercussions.

It was easy to guess what Sam was planning to do, whatever answer he might have gotten from her. He would go to a crossroad, summon a demon, and try to get his brother’s contract back. Seren could even see him pointing the Colt at the demon's head as a threat.

That wouldn’t work. Crossroad demons were just clerks. Salespersons. The face of the business. They didn’t have the contracts. Those always went to the higher-ups to keep. That was the general rule.

But Seren had the hunch that Dean’s contract was a special case. Like a treasure. It would be iron-clad and locked in a safe for good measure. The question was why, and why _his_. It irked her as if it was a personal matter.

Which was not.

There was nothing personal that linked the Winchester and herself anymore. There had never been, really. They had simply been involved in the same case. That was all.

“I’m really sorry, Sam. But I’m not… Allowed—” Seren bit off the word, resentful. “—to disclose that sort of information.”

The boy’s eyebrows furrowed for a moment, analyzing her words. When it finally clicked in his mind that, yes, there might be a way to safe Dean from hell, his expression relaxed a bit, at least towards her.

For existing, there really was a way for Dean to avoid hell, that Seren knew of. Sam would have to find the higher-up that held his contract and get rid of it: the contract or the demon, it didn’t matter. It was almost an impossible task, but people had been successful with worst chances.

Seren wondered if she was being cruel or merciful to give Sam the hope that there was something that could be done.

In her case, it tended to be both.

“Whatever you do, be careful of the fine print. Or lack of thereof,” she chuckled dryly at her own warning.

“Talking from experience, I see.” he gave her a sympathetic look. Seren nodded. “Dully noted,” Sam returned both her words and her gestures and both laughed at their silliness.

 

* * *

 

A month had passed since the Winchesters defeated Yellow Eyes and the Gates of Hell had been opened. As expected, demon cases were on the rise but, so far, Seren’s Pact stood firmly. There had been no breaches even if there had been some omens too close for comfort.

Still, she felt something wrong, looming, lurking, chasing her wherever she went. Watching her from a distance but ready to pounce on her if given the chance. Seren was sure there had been plenty, but the attack never came.

Sensing his master’s uneasiness, Caleb had gone to check on her more than she would have liked. It was not that Seren wasn’t glad her infernal pup cared for her, but she had assigned him a mission and, if he came to her, that meant his guarding post was left unattended. If she ever told anyone that her fierce hell-hound actually whined when she had sent him away, back to his mission, no one would have believed her.

Leaving aside her feeling of being followed and observed aside, her research about, well, anything, was fruitless to say the least.

So far, every miraculous recuperation she had investigated was related or to a bidden reaper, or to a crossroad deal, or some sort of sacrificial ritual—the gory kind.

After that, she had tried to search for what that fragment the reaper had returned, the one she had given Sirius, could be. But that search was even more of a disaster. It only brought back the sacrificial rituals and the sell your soul business. Technically speaking, those were about giving a fragment of oneself, true, but she hadn’t been missing anything in all those years. Had she?

Seeing as common lore was getting her nowhere, she decided it was time to try her luck with some family lore. Maybe she should have started there, to be honest.

She would have to call _t_ _ía_ Rosa.

With a resigned sigh, Seren started to pack her notebooks and pens back into her bag, picking bites of the last pancake left on her plate in between.

It’s not like she needed to leave the diner to make the call, but she felt more comfortable doing so. Rosa always preferred to speak in Spanish, and Seren wasn’t in the mood to meet someone sending her a nasty glare—if nothing worse—simply because she was having a _personal conversation_ in a language the person glaring didn’t understand.

So, to avoid unnecessary confrontations and cursing, she got up from her seat, adjusted her bag on her shoulder and, after stuffing the last bite of pancake in her mouth, went to the counter to pay.

Just when Seren opened her mouth to ask for her check, the phone on the wall behind the counter started ringing, startling her slightly. The waitress gave her an apologetic smile as she went to answer seeing as no one else could. Seren mouthed a no problem her way, returning the smile, even if a bit tense.

Something felt wrong.

“Yes? Yes. Oh, dear. Sure. One moment, please.” The woman turned towards the shop, covering the phone to mute her voice before calling, “Jude Fletcher?”

Seren’s body tensed at the name, eyes going slightly wide as her hold on her bag’s strap turned into a vise. She felt a pressure in her chest and it took her a moment to realized she was containing her breath, afraid that a mere exhale would betray her. That it would reveal her position. That it would make _him_ find her.

But she could breath. _He_ wasn’t around anymore and Seren wasn’t hiding. She took deep breaths, discreetly, trying to reign her thoughts. That name… It was just a coincidence. Just a stupid, bloody coincidence. It meant nothing. Not anymore.

After calling the name a few more times, the woman finally gave up, apologizing to the caller and hanging up.

“So sad. It seems his kid ran away and someone spotted them around here,” she sighed, counting the change she had to give back. Seren wished she had had a smaller bill to pay with. “Kids these days, I swear.”

Seren gave a curt nod, biting her tongue to keep herself from saying anything. She may have calmed down, but the bad feeling persisted. Was the woman counting slowly on purpose?

“Poor man. He sounded so worried,” the waitress added, the change finally ready in her hand.

Seren extended hers so the woman would deposit the bills and coins on her gloved palm. The waitress opened her fist and let the money fall carelessly, the girl’s hand closing on reflex so it wouldn’t fall on the counter or the floor. Swiftly, the woman grabbed Seren by the wrist, tightly, tugging her arm over the counter towards herself.

When Seren’s alarmed eyes looked up to the waitress’ face, a pair of coal black eyes stared right back into hers.

“Ignoring your father’s call and making him worry like that.” The demon tutted at her with a condescending expression. “That’s not very nice of you, _Jude_. You know how much he missed you all these years.”

Panicked, Seren tried to free herself only for the demon’s nails to dig in her skin as she struggled. The woman watched her, a cat toying with a mouse, her lips becoming thinner as they spread in a wicked, twisted smile.

“Blake wants his little princess back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is the end of Yellow Eyes' Arc. I hope you enjoyed the ride and sorry for the little cliffhanger. I couldn't help it.  
> I'll post the first chapter of the next Arc Friday of next week (19th April), so stay tuned and hope to see you there.  
> Thank you very much for the kudos and comments, they really help keeping me going.

**Author's Note:**

> If you find any mistake, of any kind, don't doubt to tell me.  
> Remember that kudos and comments give me life.  
> Thanks for reading.


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